Support Group
by WickedWorld6897
Summary: There was something about this girl Eddie couldn't put his finger on. The way she was scared by her own smile, the hurt in her eyes. Eddie wanted to know her story. Loren had just told strangers her story and they weren't judging her. The feeling she got when Eddie looked at her was different than anything she had ever experienced. Could he truly care?
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is my new story, I decided I wanted to right something a bit more heavy. I really really hope you guys like this one, please tell me what you think! I'm still going to update One Death a lot don't worry. Enjoy!**

_Chapter One_

Loren was on her way to her first session in a 'loss support group', her best friend Mel had convinced Loren to finally deal with the loss of her mother Nora. Loren instantly felt uncomfortable when she walked into the small room, about eight other people were there and they all turned their head when Loren walked in. Loren was the youngest in the room which didn't put her at ease. Loren felt judged by the gases of the strangers.

"Hi... I- I'm Loren." Loren said in a little voice. A woman smiled at her and stood up.

"Hello, welcome to the group." The women said "I'm Stacy, I take care of our group." she added as she shook Loren's hand. Loren smiled weakly as she still felt uncomfortable. Stacy told her to take a seat, Loren did.

All the strangers were still looking at her except for a dark haired woman who was looking down at her feet. Shaking her head every few seconds. Loren thought this woman was strange but remembered this was a support group for people who had lost someone.

"So, since Loren is new here maybe somebody would care to show her the give the right example and share first?" Stacy asked, she looked around the room questioning.

"I will." The women with the dark head who Loren had found strange said in a loud, clear voice. A voice Loren wouldn't expect she would have.

* * *

Loren had to contain herself not to cry. The story of the dark haired woman had been so sad, she had lot her daughter and husband when people had tried to rob her house. The burglars broke in when she wasn't home, when the woman who's name was Holly came home she had seen her husband dead on the floor and her daughter was nowhere to be found. This had happened two years ago and the police had stopped searching for Holly's daughter after a few weeks. Holly's daughter who was called Jenny had been eleven when she had gone missing.

Stacy said some comforting words to Holly who just nodded in response. Holly hadn't cried while telling her story, but somehow the Stacy's words had seemed to trigger something in her since a single tear was now rolling down her cheek.

"Hi, I'm sorry, I'm late." Loren turned her head when she heard a male voice from behind her, along with the sound of a door opening.

"It's okay, Eddie, just try to not let it happen again." Stacy replied as Eddie closed the door behind him and gave Stacy a grateful smile.

"I won't." Eddie answered as he sat down next to a pretty brunette girl who was staring at him. "What?" Eddie asked with a chuckle.

"You're Eddie Duran." Loren stated.

A smile appeared on Eddie's face, this girl was young. Well, at least younger than most of the people in the group, more of his age. And she was beautiful, Eddie needed to know why she was in here. Who she had lost.

"In here he's just a regular guy named Eddie." Stacy said before Eddie could reply. The remark made Loren's cheeks turn pink, she had been a huge fan of Eddie Duran ever since he had released his first album and she knew exactly why he was here. To deal with the loss of his mother, Katy Duran.

"Yes of course... I'm so sorry." Loren quickly apologized.

"Don't be." Eddie replied. Loren looked at Eddie who was even more gorgeous in person and her cheeks turned pink again, she smiled and nodded at Eddie.

"Eddie, this is Loren, she is new." Stacy said, turning Eddie's attention away from the brunette girl briefly before Eddie realized Stacy was talking about Loren. Yes, the name suited her perfectly.

"Hi." Eddie just said before Stacy took charge of the conversation again.

"It is Loren's turn to share, for the first time." Stacy said, turning her attention from Eddie to Loren. "Care to tell us your story?" she added. Loren nodded and swallowed.

"Yes... I'm just not really sure how to start." Loren answered awkwardly.

"Just start at the beginning." Eddie interrupted with a smile.

"Eddie, thank you that you are trying to help, but it's not necessary." Stacy replied with a warm smile. Eddie's smile didn't fade, he winked at Loren, motioning for her to continue.

"Well, I guess I have to tell you... I lost my mother... A few months ago." Loren began. "She... She had a boyfriend... Don. He had money issues." Loren swallowed hard. "Somehow my mom go caught up in all of it. Don had borrowed a lot of money from a guy, he couldn't pay him back. One night, I got a call from Don, he couldn't reach my mom and he sounded worried." Loren fought back the tears. "I knew something was wrong instantly so I rushed home. My mom wasn't home, I called her a lot of times but she didn't pick up. I called the police, after a while I got a call from them. They had found a woman... Matching my mother's description. It was her, she had been shot earlier that night." A tear escaped from Loren's eye. She shook her head, as a gesture that she was done talking. Loren felt a comforting hand on her back. She slightly turned her head to see who's hand it was. it was Eddie's.

* * *

The session was over. Stacy took out some paper cups and put them on a table in the corner of the room. Loren noticed there was a pot of thee on it and something that she was sure was lemonade. Loren noticed her throat was dry so she was thankful that there was something to drink in the room. She walked over to the table, she couldn't believe that all of the people inside of this room knew her story. The story that no one knew. Mel didn't even know the whole story. Loren poured hot tea into a paper cup she took a sip.

"We didn't really get a chance to talk." A voice that Loren recognized as Eddie's said from behind her. Loren spun around to see Eddie standing there.

"No... We didn't." Loren replied as a little smile flashed across her face. Loren didn't remember what her smile looked like, since she hadn't smiled much after her mother died.

When Nora had died Loren's father, Trent, had moved into Loren's house to take care of Loren. Something that Loren hated. Trent always talked to her like she was a burden. Loren felt like she was a burden to the world.

Eddie looked at the girl in front of him. He had noticed her beautiful smile, the moment the smile appeared it seemed to scare Loren and the smile quickly faded. Eddie understood her pain, the way her mother was taken from her was cruel. No one should have to go through that. But the saddest thing was that Loren wouldn't show her smile. Her mother couldn't be the reason for that. Eddie didn't know how he knew it, but he did.

"So what more is there to your story?" Eddie asked he narrowed his eyes a bit.

Loren sighed and shrugged. "Not much to tell." she lied.

"It's okay, you can tell me whenever your ready." Eddie replied. Loren stiffened and then nodded.

"Why are you being so sweet to me?" She asked before she knew what she was saying.

"Because you deserve it." Eddie answered, he slightly touched her shoulder.

Eddie noticed Loren flinched when he lifted up his hand. This caused Loren's cup of hot tea to slip out of her hand. The tea fell over Eddie.

"Oh my God!" Loren yelled. Eddie had a tight smile on his face as an expression of pain took over his face.

The tea started to burn Eddie's skin through his shirt. In a split second he decided to take his shirt off.

"I'm so sorry..." Loren mumbled.

"It's fine." Eddie assured her "I'll live." he added, Loren's cheeks turned pink again. Eddie's body was amazing. His abs looked rock hard and just the way he carried himself made Loren's insides tingle.

* * *

"Where the hell have you been?" Trent asked the second Loren walked through the door.

"Nowhere... Just with Mel." Loren replied a bit too quickly as she closed the door behind her.

"Don't lie to me, Loren." Trent said, raising his voice. Loren noticed his hands clenched into fists.

It would only be minutes now before his would stand up. It would only be seconds now until she would feel the sharp pain caused by her father's fist. It would only be moments... Unless she could run. Loren ran into her room.

"Get back here!" Loren felt two hands around her waist, pulling her back, back from the safe haven that was her bedroom. Trent threw Loren against the wall, Loren screamed when her body hit the wall.

"Now, where were you?" Trent asked, he crouched down next to his daughter and lifted her chin with his hand. Loren smelled the alcohol in his breath. Always the alcohol in his breath.

"I was with Mel." Loren lied. Every time Loren had brought up the death of her beloved mother Trent had laughed at her, called her weak and sometimes even threw a punch at her. So if Loren would bring up talking about Nora with a bunch of strangers, she was sure that a lot of physical and mental pain would follow.

"You are a liar." Trent hissed. He lifted his hand, ready to punch Loren.

Loren pressed her eyelids together, waiting for the blow in her face. This did surprise Loren, Trent had never punched his in the face. Loren assumed it was because he didn't want anyone to see what he did to her. That he abused her.

The pain didn't come. Loren opened her eyes. Trent was standing next to her, he looked down on her and slightly shook his head.

"You are a pathetic excuse for a daughter." Trent smirked, he kicked Loren who was still laying on the ground. The first kick was not hard but the second one pressed all of the air out of Loren lungs. Loren gasped and tried to get some air into her lungs again, she didn't have much time because Trent pulled her up by her hair.

"You are a liar, just like your no good mother." Trent hissed before he threw the broken girl on the ground. She didn't move, she couldn't find the strength.

Couldn't her father see he had already broken her? Every word he said broke her into more pieces.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello guys, thanks you for all the love I got over the first chapter. Really? 16 reviews?! I love you guys. Huge shout-out to Haters0gonna0Hate for being my first review! Enjoy!**

_Chapter two_

It was Saturday. Loren's first support group session had been on Thursday, she had felt better after that. Until she went home and any progress she thought she had made was kicked out of her. Loren turned in her bed and immediately flinched at the pain in her stomach. Today she needed to hide the pain. Just like yesterday, just like every day.

Saturday could mean two things; She was alone with Trent all day. Or she sneaked out early in the morning to go to her thinking spot. She would stay there until she got too hungry or something else drove her away from there. Loren needed to try her first option. She quickly put on jeans, she inspected her arms for possible bruises, there weren't any. Her stomach had taken most of the heat Thursday night. She put on a dark purple tank top.

Loren carefully lifted her top, she looked at her stomach. It was almost the same color as her top, but had some blue mixed in it. The bruises covered most of her belly, Loren pulled her shirt down and lifted her arms. No. Nobody could see them if she lifted her arms. The top was long enough. Loren grabbed her phone before she tiptoed out of her room. She let out a sigh in relief when she saw the empty couch. Trent wasn't awake... Yet. Loren continued walking in a normal pace, she laid her hand on the doorknob.

"Where do you think you're going?" The loud voice of Trent suddenly said. Loren turned around slowly.

"I- I-" Loren stammered. She wanted to scream, if only she had been a little bit quicker, Trent wouldn't have caught her.

"That's right, nowhere." Trent replied with an amused smirk. "Because you have nowhere to go. Nobody wants you." He added, the remark reminded Loren of how worthless she actually was. She was nobody. Nobody would ever want her. Nobody could ever want her.

Trent grabbed Loren's arm and pushed her towards the kitchen.

"Be a good girl and make me some breakfast." Trent said as if he was telling a four-year-old to go play outside. Loren nodded and opened the fridge.

"There- there's nothing in here." Loren mumbled. Trent stopped walking and snapped his head in her direction.

"Now, Loren, what makes you think I care?" He replied in a calm voice. A voice that usually turned out to be not calm at all.

"I- I'm sorry but I can't-" Loren began.

"You can't do anything, that right." Trent interrupted, he walked back to Loren and reached her in a few steps. Loren opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a pair of hands around her neck.

"I could kill you, I could kill you right now and nobody would care." Trent hissed as his grip on her throat tightened. Loren grabbed her father's arms and tried to get him to loosen his grip. Trent did exactly the opposite. His grip on Loren's neck tightened more and more. He pinned her against the fridge, Loren's legs tried to kick him but all they ended up kicking was air.

* * *

Loren put on a scarf to hide the bruises that had formed on her neck. Trent had left to wherever he went, Loren wouldn't dare to ask. He had left her barely conscious on the ground. Loren needed to get out now, before he got back.

The choking was something new, Loren hoped it wouldn't be a habit. She assured herself it wouldn't be, that it was probably just a one time thing. But the kicking hadn't been a habit one day. The hitting hadn't been a habit one day. The name calling hadn't been a habit one day. Why wouldn't this grow out to be a habit.

Loren looked at herself in the mirror again and shook her head. Who was this girl? Whoever she was, she wasn't the Loren Tate everybody knew. She wasn't the Loren Tate her mother had known and loved. Well, according to Trent, Nora had never loved Loren because no one could ever love her. This was the only argument Loren was willing to take on with her father, because she knew she was right. He could tell him over and over again that Nora had hated her, but Loren would never give in to it. Even if it was the last thing she did.

This time, Loren got to her car without any trouble. Why hadn't Trent taken her car from her yet? She could just drive away. Drive away and forget about everything that happened and everything that was going to happen. But she didn't. She drove up to her spot in Griffith Park. The only place Trent didn't know where she was. No, that wasn't true anymore. Trent hadn't know where Loren was Thursday, the night of the group session. Loren got out of her car and inhaled the fresh air.

Finally she could be alone in her misery.

* * *

How long had she been up here? Loren had no idea. She just hope she could bear the hungry feeling for a couple of more hours. Loren carefully lifted up her shirt again, she leaned against the big tree. The lonely tree that had been up here every time Loren had went up there. It made her feel safe, and since her mom died, this place felt more like home than her own home. The bruises seemed to have only darkened. But the new pain in her neck and throat drew the attention away from her stomach by hurting more than it.

"Loren?" A voice said, Loren quickly pulled her shirt down. Not careful enough her hand touched her bruised stomach and she flinched before turning around.

"Eddie?" Loren finally replied after taking a moment to blink and stare at Eddie in disbelieve. She realized how stupid she looked and quickly closed her mouth.

"What are you doing up here?" Eddie asked, he walked over to Loren and narrowed his eyes playfully at her.

"I come here a lot..." Loren responded.

Eddie's face was taken over by a broad smile. Loren; the girl Eddie couldn't stop thinking about ever since he had met her. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Yet, the expression on her face was something new. She looked like she had just seen a ghost. No, not one ghost, a whole army of ghosts. Ghosts that were still haunting her even though she had stopped running from them.

"So do I." Eddie said, he looked into Loren's eyes. Yes, they were beautiful, but the look inside of them was sad. The story inside of them was heartbreaking, even though he had no idea what it was. Other than the story about her mother.

Loren broke eye contact with Eddie. "I need to go." Loren said hastily.

"Really? Can't you stay?" Eddie asked. "I mean, we are both up here and just yet you didn't look ready to leave." he added, explaining himself to Loren. He had the feeling he had to because he needed her to know that he would never make her do anything that made her feel uncomfortable.

Loren nodded, she'd rather be with Eddie than at home, waiting for Trent to return. Eddie sat down and motioned for Loren to come and sit next to him. She did, carefully because her stomach still hurt a lot.

"Why did you come up here?" Eddie asked, he noticed Loren was staring at the view with an empty expression in her eyes.

"Just to get away from..." Loren hesitated, just to get away from Trent. She had almost said it. "...Everything." She finally continued with a sigh, she was surprised by how raspy her voice sounded, her throat still felt like Trent's hand was around it. Eddie nodded understandingly.

* * *

Loren was comforted by the sound of Eddie's voice. The sound that she had been hearing for most of the last hour. Was it an hour? No, a lot longer Loren was sure of it. Time always went too slow for Loren but now, it was going too fast.

"So how did you like the group?" Eddie asked as he decided to turn the conversation into something a bit more serious. The words parted Loren from her thoughts.

"I guess it's weird to say... But I kind of liked it." Loren replied.

"That's not weird." Eddie answered, understanding every single one of her words. That had been his exact words after his first session. "It helped me a lot." He added.

"I hope it will help me too." Loren admitted truthfully. Well, that was part of the truth, Loren wanted to help herself, but she was a hopeless case. Trent had assured her that. Loren would never be able to be fixed.

"I'm sure it will, as long as you don't pour hot tea over people." Eddie joked.

A smile appeared on Loren's face, the feeling that smiling brought was unfamiliar. She smiled for about a second until she let her smile fade again.

"Why do you do that?" Eddie asked as he turned his body towards Loren.

"It was an accident!" Loren stated in a slight defending tone.

"No, no, not that." Eddie laughed. His face turned serious as he continued. "You just smiled for a second but then it disappeared again."

The words hit Loren like a slap in the face. Did people notice? Loren reminded herself that she shouldn't smile. Trent had told her various times that her smile was hideous and made her face look ever uglier.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask things like that." Eddie quickly apologized when had had seen an expression of hurt flash across Loren's face. "I just want you to see how beautiful your smile is."

Loren looked at Eddie in disbelief. She let out a humorless cold laugh. Eddie was lying to her, just like everybody always lied to her.

"You shouldn't say things you don't mean." Loren said as she slightly shook her head. Eddie looked at her and had a surprised expression on his face.

"Loren, look at me." He began, he gently lifted her chin and turned her head in his direction. Loren didn't flinch at his touch. That was a first, she always assumed that if people touched her, they were about to hurt her. But not Eddie.

"You are beautiful. One of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen in my whole life." Eddie said, he looked into Loren's eyes again. He would never get sick of looking into those eyes. Although it wouldn't hurt if they showed a happy expression. That was the only think that could make Loren even more beautiful. If her eyes had a spark in them, Loren would be perfect.


	3. Chapter 3

**Helloww! Your reviews are amazing! Probably because you are all amazing people. I love you guys, keep reviewing so I can keep loving you! And I got one review saying that you hate this FanFic, I promise it will get better. And if you don't like it, don't read it. It's pretty simple. But I still love the rest of you. Enjoy!**

_Chapter Three_

Loren had something to look forward to. There was another session tonight. Loren wouldn't have known if it wasn't for Eddie, who had practically begged her to come. It took some convincing though but that was only because Loren wasn't sure if Trent would let her go. Now she didn't care what Trent thought of her. If she went to the session she would see Eddie. Seeing Eddie meant feeling that weird feeling that she hadn't felt in a long time. Happiness? Peacefulness? She didn't know. She just knew that she liked the feeling.

"Lo." Mel said as she walked into the living room where Loren was sitting on the couch.

"Hi, Mel." Loren said with a forced little smile. "You know you shouldn't walk in without knocking." She added. She told her best friend the same thing over and over again but Mel never learned. Well, it was Loren's fault for not locking the door. Not locking the door over and over again it had been a habit, Loren hadn't locked the door the night Nora went missing, just to make it easier for her mother to walk back in. Loren had stared at the door for hours. Sometimes Loren still stared at it, hoping that her mother would come back and save her.

"I know I shouldn't." Mel replied as she sat down next to Loren.

"I'm going to that group again... Tonight." Loren said, Mel raised her eyebrows and nodded approvingly.

"Does it help?" Mel asked hopefully.

"I think it will." Loren answered, she sighed and pulled the bottom of her top.

"I just want the old you back." Mel said in a bit of a dreamy way.

Loren tensed up at those words. The old her. The cheerful, modest Loren Tate. The Loren Tate that loved her mother and friends very much. The little girl who had been strong for her mother. She was dead. Killed by Trent.

* * *

Loren was early for the session. Too early. She had been so desperate to get out of her house before Trent came home that she had lost track of time and left right after Mel had left.

What was she doing? Why did she even bother to go here? It was not like anybody could fix her.

"Why hi there, Loren." Stacy said as she came walking up to Loren.

"Hey." Loren replied softly. She had hoped to run into Eddie, the only man that had ever called her beautiful.

"Do you want to come in or wait out here for a moment?" Stacy asked. Something about Stacy's tone put Loren at ease. She figured that it was a quality you had to have if you were the leader of a loss support group. You would probably have to be able to put people at ease. Loren opened her mouth to answer, when she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey Loren!" Eddie's voice said from behind Loren. She twirled around and a smile appeared on her face, the smile that brought the amazing feeling. Well, it was her only smile so she didn't know what feeling another smile could bring. Except for the forced one Loren put on when she told people she was fine. The smile she put on when she lied.

"Hi Eddie." Loren replied, Eddie pulled her into a hug, it surprised Loren but not in a bad way. Loren already knew that Eddie would never hurt her. Yet, her body pressed against his made her flinch slightly because there was still a strong pain in her stomach.

Stacy said something Loren didn't understand before she walked into the room where the session was about to be held.

"Are you okay?" Eddie asked, he had noticed Loren's weird movement in their hug. Somebody would only move like that if they were in sudden pain.

"I- I-" Loren stammered. "Why do you ask?" she asked in an attempt to turn the heat to Eddie.

"Did I hurt you?" Eddie replied to her question with another question. Loren raised her eyebrows in slight disbelieve.

"No... Of course not. You'd never hurt me." Loren blurted out, she almost slapped herself in the face after saying it. It sounded weird. Just plain weird. Like something was wrong. Like she was telling the truth.

"I wouldn't." Eddie assured Loren, he leaned against the wall.

Loren was wearing a scarf which Eddie was now observing. Loren had said that she was sure that he'd never hurt her. She was right _he _would never hurt her, but was somebody else hurting Loren? Was somebody hurting the girl that he wanted to protect?

"What's that on your neck?" Eddie asked, he narrowed his eyes in an attempt to get a better look at Loren's neck. There was definitely something on there. Something that looked like a bruise.

Loren covered up her neck better with her scarf. If Eddie would know what her father was doing to her, he would never want to talk to her again. He wouldn't want to talk to her because she was weak. She was weak for letting Trent get away with what her was doing to her.

"It's nothing." Loren said under breath, Eddie almost didn't understand what she was saying.

"Well, if it's nothing, would you mind showing it to me?" Eddie asked as he moved a little bit closer to Loren.

Loren removed her scarf and instantly felt like she was naked in front of a crowd that was judging her. Instead of judging voices, Eddie gasped and appeared to have nothing to say.

"How... How did that happen?" Eddie gasped after a moment of silence. Loren shook her head before she looked up at Eddie.

"I fell." She said.

"On your throat?" Eddie replied sarcastically.

"I didn't come here to get interrogated." Loren stated, Eddie sighed.

"I'm sorry. Just know that you can tell me anything." He replied, Loren nodded before she hugged him again. A tear escaped from her eye.

* * *

Loren had heard more heartbreaking stories from the strangers who didn't feel like strangers anymore. But still, none of the stories as heartbreaking as Holly's that had somehow been haunting her. Loren figured that it would hunt anyone, it was a pretty horrible story.

"Loren, would you care to share something?" Stacy asked. Loren found herself wanting to tell these strangers everything but kept herself from doing so.

"I'm not sure what to tell you." Loren replied insecurely. Stacy smiled warmly, a gesture that made Loren feel comfortable and safe.

"Just anything. It doesn't even have to be about your mother." She explained. "How was your day?"

How was her day? The start had been horrible and there was a pain in her throat that got worse by the minute. But now... Now her day wasn't as bad as she had expected it to be. Mostly because of Eddie. No. Completely because of Eddie. He was the reason she could smile again.

"It- It was... Good." Loren managed to say. "No. It wasn't I shouldn't be lying to you. My best friend told me that she wanted the 'old me' back. I'm not even sure who that is anymore."

Stacy nodded understandingly. "Sometimes when we deal with loss, it can change you. If you just give yourself time to grieve and deal with losing your mother you might go back to your old self." She said. The words made sense to Loren, if her mother's death had truly been the cause of breaking Loren the words would have helped. But Nora wasn't the reason why old Loren was slipping away. Trent was. But somehow Loren felt a spark of her old self when she was with Eddie.

"Thank you." Loren said, she knew it wasn't something she was supposed to say, but just the fact that Stacy bothered to say words of comfort made Loren feel put at ease.

* * *

"Loren do you want a drink?" Eddie asked after the session was over and people were casually chatting all around her.

"Yeah, sure." Loren replied, Eddie poured some lemonade into a paper cup.

"I don't trust you with tea anymore." He stated with a chuckle.

"I might just throw lemonade over your shirt just to mess it up." Loren said. Did she just make a joke? It had been a long time since she joked around for the last time. She had forgotten the feeling it brought along.

"You could do that..." Eddie answered as he playfully narrowed his eyes as if he was weighing his options. Loren smiled again. She thought about smiling again and realized the couldn't count her smiles today. Loren crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Eddie with yet another smile. Until an expression of sudden horror took his face.

"Jesus, Loren!" Eddie almost yelled, Loren followed his gaze that was pointed directly to her belly. Somehow that crossing of her arms had pulled up her shirt enough to reveal Loren's bruised stomach. Loren looked at Eddie who grabbed her shoulders and guided her out of the room.

"I- I told you, I fell." Loren protested.

"No." Eddie answered. "I want you to tell me the truth."

The truth. He wanted to hear the truth. Loren was dying to tell him. She needed help, she needed Eddie. But why would he want to help her? Why would he even bother to help her? Nobody could help her. But Eddie was trying. Wasn't that a sign that he cared?


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello sweethearts! Shout-out to tricelander because your review made me laugh! Thank you :) Please review! Enjoy!**

_Chapter Four_

"You know, I'm not going to let you go anywhere until you tell me the truth." Eddie said with a smile, he and Loren were outside, sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall with their backs. They had been outside for quite some time and it was starting to get dark outside, Eddie didn't care. He needed to know if someone was hurting Loren. And if someone was, he needed to put a stop to it. Just like that he had assigned himself to do that. He had assigned himself to protect Loren. To make sure not another bruise would ever ruin her perfect skin.

Loren sighed. She wanted to tell Eddie. She just hadn't found the right words... Yet.

"Loren, just tell me if someone's hurting you." Eddie said as he felt himself getting a little frustrated. But he was determent not to let Loren go without knowing how she got her bruises.

"Don't judge me." Loren almost begged, she was surprised by her own words. She was surprised by how scared she was that Eddie would leave her.

Eddie grabbed Loren's hand and turned, he faced her and looked into her eyes. Into her beautiful eyes. Her eyes in which you could see how fragile she actually was. Her eyes were the only thing that showed how much pain she was really in. Pain that wasn't caused by her mother's death. Eddie knew that much.

"I will never judge you." Eddie assured Loren with a serious look on his face. Loren flashed a weak smile at Eddie, a weak smile, nevertheless a smile.

* * *

Loren was sitting on Eddie's couch. Loren didn't take time to worry about her car, that she had left at the building in which the last meeting had been. The only thing Loren had told Eddie was that she didn't want to go home. Eddie had just nodded, without asking her another question he had taken her to his place. Well, more like his palace. His house was amazing, everything you would expect from a rockstar and more.

"Here." Eddie said, parting Loren from her thoughts as he handed her a cup of tea. Loren's hands were shaking. She knew Trent was furious about her not being home yet. It was just a matter of time until he would call. But the nice thing was that Trent had no idea where Loren was. Eddie's house was a safe haven.

Eddie was a safe haven.

"Thank you." Loren looked up at Eddie and smile weakly, she took the cup of hot tea and quickly put it down on the coffee table since her hands were shaking as badly as they were.

Eddie sat down next to Loren and put his hand on her knee. Loren continued shaking heavily, every breath hurt her throat, as well as her stomach. Loren had trouble breathing in a normal way, she threw off her scarf in impulse because she had the feeling it was choking her. She forgot all about the bruises that were now clearly visible.

"Loren... Loren, calm down... Breathe." Eddie said, he moved one hand to her back and rubbed comforting circles on it.

Loren took a few deep breaths before she felt herself relax slightly. Loren had never had a panic attack around anyone and she felt ashamed now. Ashamed that she showed Eddie her weak side. Even weaker than when she told the group about her mother. But usually the panic attacks lasted longer. Usually they lasted to the point where Loren was sure she wouldn't be able to breathe, but Eddie made her feel like she could breathe again.

"I don't get you." Loren finally said. "You make me feel like I'm special, although I'm not even worth your time." Loren blurted out, immediately wishing she could rewind her life, rewind it and take those words back. But it was how she felt. It was something she had been wondering from the moment Eddie had spoken to her for the first time.

"You are special, Loren. It's time you notice that." Eddie assured Loren. The words caused her to tear up. Eddie was slowly picking up ever single broken piece of her and he was putting them together. Loren could feel it, although she was sure that Eddie wasn't aware of the impact he had on her.

Eddie brushed Loren's hair out of her face, revealing her neck. "And that's why it makes me so... mad, that somebody can be able to do this to you." He said. Eddie noticed the bruises were worse than he had thought in the first place. Who could be doing this to Loren? Eddie was now listing the people who could hurt Loren. The only reasonable person that popped into his head was Loren's father. Could that be? Could a parent really hurt their child? No... Maybe... Her boyfriend? No, Loren didn't have a boyfriend. The only one that Eddie could think of was Loren's father.

Loren's phone ringing phone quickly emptied Eddie's mind. He had just opened his mouth to ask her the question about her dad, but now he didn't get the chance to ask.

"Hi Trent..." Loren said, in a careful voice. Not wanting to sound guilty, neither did she want Trent to be suspicious.

"I just came home to an empty house. Where are you?" Trent replied calmly. The calm tone of voice that Loren feared so much.

* * *

Loren got out of Eddie's car, Trent had insisted that she would come home. Loren was too scared of what would happen if she didn't do as he told her. Eddie walked her to the door, which made her feel safe, even in this environment that was anything but safe.

"I will see you very soon." Eddie said before he pulled her into a hug, he kissed the top of her head, more as an impulse. He hugged her careful, not to touch any of her bruises, yet tight enough to let Loren know that if it was up to him, he would never let her go.

"Bye Eddie." Loren said softly, yet in a way that she had never spoken before. There was something in her voice that was either gratefulness or the way people talk to the person they are in love with. Loren opened the door and took one look back at Eddie, who was still smiling at her. Loren gave him another weak smile before walking into her house with her legs shaking. Trent was sitting on the couch in a way a villain in a movie would sit. The only thing missing was the big white cat on his lap.

"So... Care to explain, Loren?" Trent said in a voice that was as smooth as honey.

"There's nothing to explain." Loren snapped, surprised by her own rude tone of voice she wanted to apologize, but then changed her mind. She didn't deserve the way Trent treated her. So she wasn't going to apologize.

"Oh so that guy that was just in front of _my _house, was just nobody?" Trent replied with a slight motion of his hand. He stood up and approached Loren who took a step back, instantly regretting ever answering to Trent's question. Regretting ever leaving Eddie's car... Or his house... Just leaving him.

"That's- I- No." Loren stammered. The last word more powerful than she had ever spoken. "He's not nobody."

"So tell me, who is he than?" Trent hissed, his face close to Loren's she turned her face away from him, disgusted by the alcohol in his breath.

"Eddie Duran." Loren replied bluntly. As she said it, she realized how stupid and made up it really sounded.

Trent chucked humorlessly. "So he's that much of a lowlife that you can't even tell me who he really is? Can't blame him, no guy who had any self respect would want a girl like you. I am surprised that anybody would even touch you." Trent smirked. Loren felt herself getting angry and insecure at the same time.

Loren felt Trent's hand on her throat again, just one hand. The other punched her in her stomach, right where her bruises already were. Trent pinned her up against the wall. Loren moved her hands to his arm, the one arm of which the hand was holding her throat in a tight grip. Loren scratched Trent's arm, she could swear she felt skin come with. Trent realized his grip on her throat and Loren fell down on the ground.

"You filthy bitch!" Trent screamed out in pain, looking at the blood that was flowing out of the scratches in his arm. Trent looked at the spot on the ground he had just seen his daughter fall down on but she wasn't there.

Loren had ran to the kitchen and grabbed the first sharp thing that caught her eye. It was a knife. Loren held it in front of her, she needed to protect herself.

"Loren... Put down the knife." Trent said calmly, both his hands stretched out in front of him, as if he was looking for something inside of a dark room.

"Why would I?!" Loren yelled. "So you can hit me again? So I can be helpless again? No, I'm done." She added already in tears.

"Put it down." Trent said in a low tone of voice.

Loren shook her head and blinked, in the split second that her eyes were closed while blinking, she felt the knife, being taken from her hand. She tried to hold on to it but it was too late.

"Now... I told you to put it down..." Trent hissed, the knife was now in his hand and he was just staring at it with a sadistic grin on his face. It gave Loren the feeling that something was trying to climb up from her stomach up to her throat out of her mouth.

"Trent- I'm sorry-" Loren stammered.

"Oh you will be." Trent said with the same sadistic grin on his face.

Loren closed her eyes and wished she could just wake up from this nightmare. Wake up in her bed, screaming and her mother would come in to comfort her. Loren opened her eyes again when she heard the front door open... Eddie? Was Eddie really standing there? Could he save her from Trent? Or was she just imagining things again? No. She couldn't be. He was really standing in the doorway.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey hey! I love you guys! I'm already over 60 reviews! And now I'm all excited! Shout-out to ArianissX0X0 for being amazing. Please review! Enjoy!**

_Chapter Five_

Trent seemed to be too caught up with staring at the knife and back at his daughter sadistically, he didn't notice Eddie, who had a shocked expression on his usually so relaxed face. Loren didn't say anything. She just swallowed so hard that it hurt her already damaged throat.

Eddie approached Loren and her father careful not to make a sound. Loren's father was holding something in his hand that looked like a knife and Eddie was already one hundred percent sure that he was dangerous. Eddie looked around, there was nothing he could use as a weapon, or defense. Then again, it would have been weird if weapons were just laying around the house. Eddie couldn't let anybody hurt Loren. Not if he was here, in the position to save Loren.

Eddie heard Loren's father say degrading words to her, he was pointing out how ugly she was and how nobody could ever want her. Eddie felt himself getting really angry. He couldn't take it anymore, nobody had the right to talk to Loren in that way. Nobody had the right to hurt Loren. Eddie was a bit surprised of his protectiveness over Loren. He was unfamiliar with this feeling.

"So... Loren tell me... Do you think the first cut will hurt the most? Or the last?" Trent asked rhetorically, he looked at the knife again and gently stroked the cold steel with his hand. Loren was paralyzed with fear, she couldn't move, nor could she breathe or speak.

"Why don't you try it out on yourself?" Eddie suggested, taking Trent's attention away from Loren. As soon as Trent turned his body away from Loren, she saw her chance to get away from him. Loren backed up slowly until she was sure that she was out of Trent's reach, she ran over to the couch and stood behind it, seeking some kind of protection.

Trent quickly shook of his surprised expression. "That's some way to talk to a man with a knife." Trent said calmly. He lowered the knife, Eddie noticed that his knuckles were getting white due to his tight grip on the knife.

"I wouldn't call somebody who hurts his own daughter a man." Eddie replied. He took a step closer to Trent, Eddie wasn't scared in any way. Somebody who'd hurt a harmless, fragile, sweet girl like Loren couldn't be much of a man.

"Do you think, just because you are famous that you are untouchable?" Trent said, he also took a step closer, in an effort to intimidate Eddie. Trent got frustrated when Eddie didn't seem scared, or even impressed at all.

Loren was watching from her spot behind the couch. She couldn't believe Eddie was standing up for her like this. Trent looked more than a little surprised himself. But Eddie seemed to forget that Trent was holding a knife.

"This is not at all about me." Eddie replied. "This is about you, and the way you treat Loren. I have always wondered why guys like you do that." He added, fully aware that if Trent felt like it, he could ram the knife through his rib cage, but as long as Eddie wouldn't show a sign of fear, Trent wouldn't do anything.

"I can treat my daughter any way I want to." Trent hissed, still pissed off, as well as taken aback by the fearlessness Eddie showed in his face. Well, not only in his face, just in the way he carried himself.

"That's the thing, you can't." Eddie said with a bit of a smirk.

"Okay, that's enough." Trent yelled, he gave Eddie a hard push which made him back up about one or two meters. Trent lifted his knife in the air.

"No Trent don't!" Loren yelled. Taken over by horror. No. Trent couldn't hurt Eddie. Eddie was untouchable. But the wicked expression on Trent's face told a different story.

The sound of police sirens filled the air. Trent let the knife fall out of his hand while it was still in the air, inches before he would have stabbed Eddie. Trent turned around and disappeared into the room that had once been Nora's bedroom.

* * *

Eddie and Loren were outside, Eddie had Loren tightly wrapped in his arms. There were two police cars, the lights still on. Eddie had told the officers that Trent was inside.

"Why did you come back?" Loren asked with a silent sob. She was still in Eddie's strong arms and never wanted him to let her go. She wanted to keep this safe feeling. The feeling that only Eddie could provide to her.

"I was planning on going home, but I just got this feeling that something was off." Eddie explained. "So I turned my car around and the first thing I heard when I got out was you screaming. It was the most horrifying thing I have ever heard, just the idea that someone was in there, hurting you. I can't bear the thought of that, Loren." He continued, he held Loren even closer at that memory. Eddie kissed the top of Loren's head softly before he stroked her hair.

"Sir... Miss..." And officer said, trying to get Eddie and Loren's attention.

"Yes." Eddie replied, released Loren from his embrace and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"He's not inside." The officer said in a serious voice.

"That's impossible, have you looked everywhere?" Eddie answered with disbelieve in his voice.

"Yes. He's not inside, I can assure you that." The officer assured Eddie, he didn't seem to like it that Eddie was questioning him. The other officers now walked out of Loren's house.

Trent wasn't inside. Trent was not inside. The words rang through Loren's head. No. She was free of Trent. Eddie had freed her. How could he not be inside? He was still out here?

* * *

The officers had assured both Loren and Eddie that they would do anything to find Trent. Yet, Eddie had once again insisted on Loren going home with him. Loren didn't object. She wanted to go home with Eddie. The one person that made her feel completely safe.

"They are going to find him, Loren, I know what you're thinking." Eddie said when he saw the worried expression on Loren's face. He gently touched Loren's knee.

"But what if they don't?" Loren thought out loud.

"Then I will protect you. You are safe with me." Eddie replied, he lifted Loren's chin. The bruises on her neck had gotten worse since Trent had probably grabbed her by her neck again.

"I know." Loren said to her own surprise as she cuddled up to Eddie's warm chest. "Did you really mean the things you said in there?" Loren asked softly, she felt Eddie's hand on her waist and it gave a tingly feeling inside of her.

"I did. I just need you to see how wrong he was." Eddie replied. "I need you to see how beautiful and amazing you are, you can't bring yourself down because from now on, I won't allow it." He continued in a more serious tone of voice.

"My mom always told me not to bring myself down." Loren said in a dreamy voice as she thought about Nora.

* * *

_Loren and Eddie were sitting on the piano bench. Loren played a few chords and sang something. A song she had never heard before. Although she knew every word. _

_Just as she finished playing Eddie gently cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes. Without any words he kissed her. Gently, as if he was afraid to break her. Loren felt his hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair. His hand trailed down a bit until it was on the back of her neck, somehow it felt more rough than it had felt before. _

_Until Loren felt the hand on her throat. Not Eddie's. Loren parted from Eddie. No. He wasn't Eddie anymore, his face had turned into Trent's._

_"You can't run from me, Loren." Trent said calmly. He lifted his other hand and also put it around her throat. "No matter where you go, I will find you." He hissed, a few drops of spit landed on Loren's face. Normally she would've been disgusted by it, but now, the only thing she was focusing on, was a way to get air into her lungs. _

_She couldn't breathe._

_Eddie? What was Eddie doing there? He was standing behind Trent, nodding and smiling, the same sadistic grin Trent had on his face. _

_"He was right, you are worthless." Eddie smirked. He approached Loren with the same knife Trent had been holding in the kitchen, Trent let go of Loren's throat and Eddie put the knife on it._

Loren woke up screaming, but quickly realized she was in Eddie's arms. Eddie would never hurt her. No matter what Trent told her in her dreams. Eddie would never hurt her, or let anyone hurt her.

"Loren..." Eddie whispered in a sleepy voice, he wrapped his arms around Loren who was sitting up, still with an expression of complete horror on her face. "I'm here, Loren, he's not going to hurt you." Eddie whispered into her ear.

Loren cuddled up to Eddie's chest again and nodded.

As if someone knew she was awake, her phone rang. Loren didn't recognize the number. But curiosity got the best of her so she picked up.

"Hello?" Loren nearly groaned in a sleepy voice. Her voice was also a bit raspy from all the crying that had been done throughout the day.

"I never thought you would do that." Loren heard her father's voice say on the other end of the line. She had woken up from a nightmare and though real lif was better, in reality, the only thing good about her life was Eddie.

"I never thought you would betray your own flesh and blood." Trent hissed hatefully through the phone.

"I didn't betray you." Loren managed to say.

"Oh, you did, and you are going to pay for it. Just wait." Trent replied, suddenly even Eddie's warmth didn't seem comforting. The safe environment of Eddie's penthouse didn't seem safe anymore.

Trent was still out there, and she wasn't safe.

One day, Eddie was not going to be by her side and that day, Trent would drag her back to the hell where she came from. The hell she had been pulled out of by Eddie.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello you beautiful person. Thanks for all the reviews, They mean a lot! Shout-out to fanfictionFANGIRL1623, because of your sweet review! Enjoy!**

_Chapter Six_

"But where am I going to stay?" Loren suddenly asked. "I mean, I appreciate your hospitality, but I don't want to- well, push my luck." She added, Eddie, who was sitting on the piano bench, turned around to face Loren, who was standing over by the couch.

"You can stay here as long as you like." Eddie assured Loren. "Plus; if you would live anywhere else I would probably start stalking you to make sure you are safe."

Loren let out a chuckle at that thought. The thought of Eddie Duran stalking her seemed incredibly funny to her.

"But, you didn't pack a bag, or anything of that nature. And I don't want you to go back to that house." Eddie said, as he stood up and grabbed his keys.

"B- But where are we going then?" Loren asked with a nervous laugh. She couldn't help but laugh or smile every time Eddie talked to her, or even looked at her.

"I am going to take you shopping." Eddie replied, he held the door open for Loren and quickly followed her after she walked out of his penthouse. Loren smiled, she could barely remember the last time she went shopping. Well, she could remember it clearly, but it had been with her mother and Mel.

* * *

Eddie had convinced Loren to buy almost every piece of clothing she had tried on and afterwards he had insisted on carrying her bags. Eddie was wearing a hoodie with a baseball cap and sunglasses. He had told Loren that if he wouldn't do that the paparazzi would instantly harass them if they found out he was shopping at a mall. Loren understood that, well, she did her best to understand, because she was sure that she had no idea how that would feel.

"Eddie, I really don't want you to buy me any more things." Loren said, Eddie was walking in a fast pace and Loren almost had to run to keep up with him, even though he was the one carrying the bags.

"I like buying you things." Eddie replied.

Loren gave him a look and sighed. Eddie returned her look and stood still for a moment.

"Okay, okay, I just want to buy you one more thing." He said before walking into a jewelry store a few meters from them. Loren followed him, who would say no to jewelry, right?

She was in awe. The store looked many times bigger from the inside than it had from the outside. It looked like everything was really expensive, Eddie had been buying all kinds of things for Loren and it made her feel kind of guilty, even though she knew Eddie had a lot of money, but still, she didn't want to take advantage of that.

Eddie had a short conversation with the jeweler, he motioned to Loren a couple of times. Loren had no idea what to do so she kept her distance and looked at some diamond earrings that were closest to her. They were beautiful; shaped like flowers and if she would wear they, they would probably reach to just above her shoulders. They looked like something people would wear to the Grammy's.

"Do you like those?" Eddie asked, he was suddenly behind her and she jumped a little bit when she felt his hand on her waist.

"Who wouldn't?" Loren replied mostly to herself. "But it's way too flashy, I don't want them, I have nowhere to wear them to." She quickly added when she noticed Eddie expression and realized that he would probably buy them for her if she didn't say something.

* * *

"You really didn't have to do all of this." Loren said as she walked back into Eddie's penthouse. Eddie had managed to get Loren's mind of Trent for a while, maybe just by making her run though a mall. Maybe just for being around her, Loren didn't know, all she knew is that she felt a lot better when Eddie was around. She felt like she was turning back into the girl Nora had been proud of. The girl that wrote songs in her room for no one to hear.

"Yes I did, I had to get you a new wardrobe." Eddie replied as he closed the door behind him.

"I could just get my own clothes." Loren suggested.

"I told you, I'm not going to let you near that house again." Eddie replied, he walked over to her and put his hands on her waist. Their faces were very close together, Loren was overall just stunned by Eddie's eyes. Not only were they beautiful, but the way he looked at her had something special.

"I can't bear the thought of you getting hurt again." Eddie whispered. "I care about you, a lot. And it scares me how much I want to protect you..." He continued.

Loren moved both her hands to his cheeks, she blinked a few times, mostly to see if this was really happening. Then, she closed her eyes and leaned in, she felt Eddie's grip on her waist tighten slightly before her lips met his. The kiss was gentle, as if Eddie was afraid she would break if he kissed her too hard.

Eddie's warmth was all around her. She felt like they were the only two people on the earth. Just her and Eddie. No Trent. No pain. It was like all of that had never happened. Eddie parted from Loren and looked into her eyes. He smiled and Loren returned his smile. Just standing there like that, it gave Loren a warm feeling on the inside.

One of Eddie's hands let go of Loren's waist and reached inside of his pocket.

"Turn around." He whispered. Loren turned around and felt Eddie put something around her neck.

"What are you doing?" Loren replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Just wait." Eddie said, she could tell by his voice he was smiling. Eddie finished what seemed like putting on a necklace, his hand gently stroke her back. Loren turned around, Eddie was holding up a mirror. Loren had no idea where that came from but she didn't worry about it because her attention was pulled to her neck. There was a beautiful diamond necklace around her neck. It wasn't too flashy, Eddie knew Loren didn't like that. But nevertheless it was beautiful. There was a big flower in the middle and it was surrounded by smaller flowers.

"Eddie, it's perfect." Loren said, still in awe by the beauty of the diamonds around her neck.

"That's only because you are perfect." Eddie replied in a warm romantic voice, it made Loren blush a little. But she didn't object, knowing that Eddie wouldn't let her bring herself down.

* * *

Loren looked at her ringing phone, Mel was calling. Loren quickly realized Mel had no idea of what had been going on with her. She had the right to know. Mel had always been there for Loren, but Loren had just been ashamed to tell Mel. She still felt like it was her fault for not standing up for herself. For not telling Trent to stop when he had threw the first punch at her. But hadn't she told him? She had. Over and over again. He had never listened, he had punched the words of objection right out of her.

"Hey Mel." Loren greeted her best friend excitedly for the first time in months.

"Lo, where the hell are you? Your dad is at my house telling some weird story about Eddie Duran." Mel replied with a lot of worry in her voice.

Loren gasped. Trent was at Mel's house. He could hurt her best friend. Loren jumped up from the couch and ignored the weird look Eddie gave her.

"A- Are Lisa and Gus home?" Loren stammered in horror.

"No, thank goodness." Mel joked. "But Trent is really worried about you... And will you please explain to me why you ran away with Eddie Duran?"

"Mel... You need to get out of there." Loren replied breathlessly. Her heart was pounding and she had the feeling it would jump out of her chest.

"Why? Lo, will you tell me what's going on?" Mel asked suspiciously.

"Mel, just listen to me. You need to get out of there. Trust me." Loren said as she started to get frustrated. If Mel wouldn't get out of there, Trent would hurt her... Or worse.

Loren started walking through the room, she was looking for her jacket, but quickly realized she didn't have a jacket with her. She didn't care about it anymore. Eddie walked over to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I- I'm calling 911." Loren said as she dialed the number on her phone. "Trent is at Mel's house. We need to get over there." She added.

* * *

Eddie had barely stopped driving when Loren opened his car door. Eddie had ignored the speed limit and they had managed to get over to Mel's place pretty fast. There were already police cars in front of Melissa's house, and an ambulance. Eddie quickly caught up with Loren, who had started running the second she saw the ambulance. This couldn't be happening. When she had thought Trent stopped hurting her, he hurt her best friend. Could he do that? Did he hate her that much that he would hurt her though hurting Mel?

"What happened?" Eddie asked and officer as he grabbed Loren's hand to stop her from running.

"I can't give you that information, sir." The officer replied, before walking away, leaving Loren frustrated.

Loren just needed to know that it was not her best friend in the ambulance.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Lisa, crying in Gus' arms.


	7. Chapter 7

**Helleu! So I'm not sure on which one of my stories I should focus... Mmm... I think you should tell me! Shout-out to marirosa1979 ****for your amazingness. Please review! Enjoy!**

_Chapter Seven_

"Lisa! Lisa, tell me what happened!" Loren almost yelled as she ran up to Lisa and Gus. Eddie looked around but then quickly followed her. Eddie had no idea what to think of this whole situation, the only thing he was sure of was that there was a lot of confusion around them. He was just sure that Loren blamed herself for what had happened.

"She got shot." Gus replied, in a calm way that made Loren want to slap him.

"Please tell me she's okay." Loren managed to say, she had the feeling that she was going to pass out if Gus told her any bad news.

Gus sighed and nodded slightly. "She's okay... It was close, they almost lost her." He said, Loren instantly felt like a heavy burden was lifted from her shoulders, although not all of the burden was lifted.

"Where is she now?" Eddie asked, since Loren gave him a helpless look. He could see the guilt in her face, the hurt and the fear. It made Eddie mad that Trent had managed to hurt Loren in a way while she was with Eddie. He couldn't just let all Loren's loved ones live in his house, just so that Trent couldn't get to them.

"She's at the hospital, the detectives wanted to ask us some questions." Gus replied with a another nod. Lisa turned around, her cheeks were stained with tears and her eyes were red.

"Do you have any idea who did this to my baby?" Lisa asked, turning to Loren. Loren seemed a little surprised by this question, they got Trent, right? So why wouldn't they know who shot Mel.

"I- It-" Loren began, just as she realized she couldn't say it. She couldn't tell Mel's parents that it was her fault Mel got shot. Because it was her fault. It was her fault because she hadn't stopped Trent, when she had the chance. When she had the knife in her hands. She had the chance to end it all there. But she had been scared. A scared little girl.

* * *

Eddie's arm was around Loren's waist, mainly to support her as they walked through the halls of the hospital. Loren hated hospitals, but she needed to see Mel. She needed to know her best friend was okay.

"Loren, I'm sure she's fine." Eddie assured Loren, he stopped walking for a moment, forcing Loren to stop walking too since her legs could barely carry her. Loren nodded her head but still wasn't convinced. She would never forgive herself for this.

"But Trent still got away." Loren replied weakly.

Without another word Eddie pulled Loren into a hug. A comforting hug that did it's job perfectly. After a while, Loren wasn't sure how long they had been in that position, Eddie parted from her and gave her a soft kiss on her lips.

"Everything will be fine, beautiful." He whispered before he started walking again. Walking towards Mel's room.

Room 407. That was Mel's room number. Loren's heart wanted to jump out of her chest and Loren had the feeling that would be best because it was pounding so hard that it was starting to hurt the inside of Loren's chest. Eddie put his hand on the door knob.

The door opened and the first thing Loren saw was her best friend, hooked to all kinds of devices. Adam sat down next to her bed and he was holding her hand.

"Mel!" Loren yelled in a mixture of relief and shock. She ran over to her best friend and hugged her tightly.

"Well... Hello to you too, Lo." Mel joked as Loren parted from her. Mel's voice sounded tired yet still like Mel's voice.

"Wh- What happened?" Loren asked, still with a shocked expression on her face. Mel shrugged.

"I don't really remember clearly." She replied. "I remember your dad coming to my house, and he told me some weird story and then I called you and you were being all weird too. That's the last I remember." Mel explained.

"But did Trent..." Loren began asking, she motioned to the devices where Mel was hooked onto. "Do that to you?" She finished with trouble. She already knew the answer, but she needed to hear it from Mel.

Mel nodded slightly but narrowed her eyes as if it wasn't clear. "But it was just my shoulder." She said as if it was nothing.

"Did they get him?" Eddie suddenly asked, he had been in the background a bit to let Loren and Mel talk, but he needed to ask this.

"Oh my God, you're Eddie Duran." Mel stated as her eyes turned big. "I think my heart monitor is about to beep a lot faster." She added with a huge smile. "But to answer your question, no." her face turned serious.

Mel seemed untouchable, according to Loren. Even when she had been shot and she was lying in a hospital bed, she just seemed fearless. A quality that Loren admired in her best friend. A quality that she wished she had. Mel would never let herself get pushed around like Loren did. If somebody would hit Mel or do anything she didn't like, the world wasn't big enough to hide. Except for Trent because he had shot Mel. Loren wondered if he had tried to kill her. But she couldn't bear the thought of that. The thought of her best friend no longer being around her. It scared her that she had been close to that.

* * *

Eddie and Loren finally walked back out the hospital, Loren had insisted on staying until she was sure Mel was fine. It was already starting to get dark outside and a little bit chilly. Loren wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to stay warm. Eddie looked at her and let out a chuckle.

"You know I bought you about five jackets, right?" Eddie said, he took off his jacket and laid it on Loren's shoulders.

"I know, but I guess I just like wearing yours." Loren replied jokingly. Eddie grabbed Loren's hand as they walked back to the car, Loren felt like Eddie never wanted to let her go. Like he would never let her go. It was an amazing feeling. Something that had never felt before.

"You know what?" Eddie suddenly asked. Loren turned her body towards Eddie and gave him a questioning look.

"What?" Loren asked, when Eddie seemed too busy looking into Loren's eyes to reply.

"I'm so glad you came into my life." Eddie said. It made Loren's heart feel like it was on a roller coaster, an amazing roller coaster. Eddie stopped walking and kissed Loren's forehead. It made a broad smile take her face. She felt happy. More happy than she had felt in a long time.

* * *

"I used to play." Loren said, she sat down on Eddie's piano bench next to him.

"Really?" Eddie replied, genuinely impressed by what Loren had just told him.

Loren nodded. "I haven't played in a long time though." She said.

Loren took a moment to look at the piano and remember why she had stopped playing.

_The first time Loren played after Nora had died, she remembered how amazing it felt. _

_"Close enough to touch but-" Loren was cut off by her father barging into her room. _

_"What are you doing?" Trent asked, Loren was on her bed, playing her keyboard, she looked up at Trent and gave him a bit of a weird look. Trent had never talked to her this way. Then again, he had only been living here for a week._

_"Just... Singing." Loren answered, a bit annoyed by the way Trent had cut her off. _

_"Is that what you call that?" Trent smirked._

_Loren laid her keyboard down and stood up from her bed. "Have you been drinking?" Loren asked, knowing that that was the only reasonable explanation for Trent's sudden attitude towards her. _

_"You should quit music, spare the world and yourself another disappointment." Trent said, ignoring Loren's question. _

_Loren shrugged and shook her head. She brushed beside Trent to walk towards her bathroom. Trent took a step to the left, blocking her way._

_"Didn't your mother raise you?" Trent hissed. "If somebody talks to you, you are supposed to answer." _

_"I don't have to answer you, you're drunk." Loren simply replied, she backed up a bit and tried to walk around Trent again._

_Trent pushed Loren, she fell down on her bed. Loren was surprised by his action and quickly sat up._

_"I hate having to do this, but Nora didn't raise you." Trent said, his face showed a look of pity before a sarcastic smile took over his face. He grabbed Loren's face with his hand, a tight grip that hurt Loren's face a lot. She didn't have much time to focus on it because a sharp pain in her stomach caused by Trent's fist._

Loren hadn't touched her keyboard after that. After the first time Trent had physically abused her, and with that and the death of her mother, she was broken. But now she wanted to play more than ever. She wanted to play for Eddie.

"Are you okay?" Eddie asked as a response to her sudden expression of horror.

Loren quickly nodded and smiled tightly. "Yes... I'm sorry, I'd love to play you something." She said.

"And I'd love to hear it." Eddie stated with a smile.

The piano keys under her fingers felt familiar. A comforting sound filled the air. The sound of the only song Loren had written and was truly proud of; Mars.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello sweetnessess, so yes, Mel was okay, but Trent is not done yet *dramatic music* okay. I love you guys and I'm almost at 100 reviews and I think that is a lot at chapter 8... Right? Anyways please review so I can do a 100-reviews-dance. I'm also thinking of a third story and I'd love to hear your ideas for that! Enjoy!**

_Chapter Eight_

"So what are we going to do about school?" Loren asked, she had simply been sleeping in the same bed as Eddie. He didn't make her feel like he expected anything from her, he always made her feel comfortable.

Last night, Loren had played Eddie one of her songs. He had told her that he loved her voice, as well as the song. Loren didn't protest, she had loved playing music again.

"Well, you don't have to go to school until tomorrow." Eddie replied, he put the last of Loren's new clothes in his closet as a definite sign of her moving in with him. Eddie had insisted on Loren not going home until tomorrow, the weekend had been way too stressful for Loren. At least that was what Eddie thought.

"Yes, I know, but what if Trent... You know... Comes to my school..." Loren said, that was her biggest concern right now, Eddie couldn't go with her to school, that would be crazy.

"I'll get you a bodyguard." Eddie answered as if it was the simplest thing on earth.

"What... Like a big guy in a monkey suit?" Loren slightly joked. She was sure things wouldn't get better for her if a guy in a monkey suit would follow her around all day. She wasn't the best liked person at school already, even with Adriana moving to Miami, things didn't get better for her. Or that could have been a figment of her imagination, since she was sure everybody was out to hurt her.

"No, just a regular person. But I'm sure he won't come to your school, he _is _a fugitive, remember." Eddie tried to put Loren at ease with those words. "I mean, the police is looking for him."

* * *

Loren was a little surprised when Eddie laid his head in her lap, but not surprised in a bad way. He looked up at Loren and smiled. Loren ran her hands through Eddie's hair. She had always wanted to do that, run her hands through Eddie Duran's hair.

"Do you think Mel wants to see me today?" Loren asked. Eddie nodded.

"Yes, I'm sure she wants it." Eddie replied. "I'll drive you up there today, and I'll leave you with her to go to the office, okay?" He suggested.

"I'd like that." Loren said. Eddie was just leaning in to kiss Loren when there was a sharp knock on the door. Eddie groaned and got up to open it.

"Who let you in?" Eddie asked in an annoyed tone of voice. Loren stood up from the couch to see who was at the door, she couldn't see it because Eddie was blocking the doorway. ******  
**

"The doorman of course." The woman replied, she brushed beside Eddie who clearly didn't like her walking in.

"What do you want, Lily." Eddie turned around and closed the door behind the woman Loren now recognized as Lily Park, from the Lily Park show.

"Who is this?" Lily asked with an amused smirk on her face as she motioned towards Loren.

"Get to the point, Lily." Eddie said in an emotionless before Loren could reply.

"Oh no, not until you tell me who this is." Lily replied, she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Lily, there is no story for you here." Eddie sighed. "Just tell me why you are paying me this very unappreciated visit."

"I'm here to talk about your mom." Lily said as her smile faded.

"What about her?" Eddie asked with another annoyed sigh. Eddie didn't want Lily talking about his mother but something within him triggered a curiosity.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to do a story about her." Lily replied, she sat down on the couch uninvited.

"And what makes you think I would?" Eddie smirked. Lily just shrugged.

"I have something you might be interested in." She said with a careless sigh. Loren and Eddie exchanged a look before Eddie spoke up.

"I can't possibly be interested in anything you would have to say." Eddie finally stated. He didn't sit down in order to make the message clear to Lily that she wasn't wanted here. Eddie noticed that she wasn't taking the hint. He walked over to the door and held it open for Lily.

"Fine, but do you want to tell me who this is instead?" Lily replied, she got up and gave Eddie a fake sad look. "I mean, think about my feelings, I need a story too." She said with too much sweetness in her voice.

Loren hadn't liked Lily on TV but now she was sure that Lily was evil. That she was the stereotype of a Hollywood snake. Loren was also a little intimidated by her appearance. She looked so confident and successful.

"Bye, Lily." Eddie said with a wide gesture towards the hallway. Lily rolled her eyes and walked out of Eddie's penthouse. She looked back one time with a look that Loren was sure didn't mean much good.

* * *

Loren looked into the mirror and gently touched her still bruised neck. She flinched when her cold fingers made contact with the warm, sore skin of her neck. It still hurt every time she swallowed although the bruises were starting to lose their dark purple color. Loren put on a dress that Eddie had bought her, it was a light blue dress with lace at the top. Loren admired the way it fit her for a second. It was tight in all the right places, yet still really casual. Loren put her hair up in a bun, she looked at herself again before she let her hair hang down again. Eddie had even improved the way her hair looked, it looked glossy again. She actually liked the way she looked today. And Trent wasn't going to bring her down.

"Wow." Eddie just said when Loren walked back into the living room, Eddie had been playing the piano. When Loren walked in, he stopped playing and him mouth fell open.

"You like?" Loren replied, she spun around.

"I love." Eddie just said before he got up and placed a gentle kiss on Loren's lips. "My dad will love you." He whispered into her ear. Eddie was going to take Loren to the MK to meet his dad.

"I hope so." Loren answered, Eddie put on Loren's jacket. Loren felt a little guilty that she was going to meet Max Duran, something that had always been her mother's dream. But she just told herself that she would do it in her mother's honor.

"I know so." Eddie assured Loren as he opened the door for her.

Eddie was a real gentleman. He treated Loren the way any girl would be lucky to be treated. But still, she couldn't help but feel like she didn't deserve it. Although she would never say it. Eddie would be disappointed that she felt that way. Eddie always gave off the impression that it hurt him when Loren was bringing herself down in any way.

* * *

The MK truly was an amazing club. It was empty because it was still afternoon, yet there was a tall blond woman standing behind the bar, cleaning glasses.

"Hello there, Eddie." The woman said cheerfully.

"Hi Grace." Eddie greeted her back. He walked over to her and kissed her cheek. Loren always thought that that was a peculiar way to greet people, but coming from Eddie, it just seemed like a nice gesture. Something he did.

"So... I guess I'm going to have to share my place as your favorite girl?" Grace joked as she motioned to Loren, who chuckled lightly.

"Yes, I guess you're gonna have to." Eddie laughed. "This is Loren. Loren, Grace." Eddie introduced Loren to the woman, who smiled warmly and shook her hand.

"Hi." Loren just said with a smile, that was actually already a huge step for her; smiling at somebody she had just met. And not only smiling, smiling sincerely.

"Pleasure to meet you, Max is upstairs." Grace replied, turning to Eddie at the last part.

"Thank you, Grace." Eddie said with a smile and a wink in her direction.

"My mom was a huge MK fan." Loren blurted out as she and Eddie climbed the stairs to Max's apartment.

"Ah, she had good taste." Eddie replied with a smile. It made Loren happy, somebody talking about Nora like that. She hadn't heart somebody talking about her mother in a good way for a long time. That was anyone but Mel, but she had a rough time dealing with the loss of Nora herself. According to her Nora had been 'the better mother' or the 'fun aunt'. So Mel, who was always very direct about everything, dodged that subject.

"She did." Loren said in a dreamy voice, they stood still in front of a white door. Eddie knocked on the door, it instantly opened. In the doorway stood Max Duran, he smiled and gave Eddie a hug.

"So this is the famous Loren Tate?" Max half asked, half stated.

"Famous?" Loren replied with a nervous laugh.

"Yes, Eddie here, couldn't stop talking about you." Max replied, he motioned towards Eddie, who had a smile on his face.

"What can I say." He replied as he raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

* * *

"But what Ed never told me is how you guys met." Max said as he poured some tea into a cup for Loren. He and Eddie were both drinking coffee. For some reason, the fact that Loren didn't like coffee had been funny to Max and Eddie.

"Well, you know when you convinced me to go to that support group, to deal with ma's death?" Eddie asked. Max nodded and narrowed his eyes a bit as if he was thinking.

"You still go there?" Max replied a little surprised.

"Yes, it helped me a lot." Eddie stated with a nod. "Loren was new there, she threw hot tea over me, I instantly liked her." He added.

"I didn't mean to do that." Loren said as if she was insulted.

"I know, babe." Eddie laughed, he kissed neck. Loren saw Max smile approvingly. Max Duran was just as down to earth as Eddie, Loren had found people she could be completely comfortable with. It was a great feeling. The places where she felt safe were increasing. She instantly knew that Max would be there for her if she needed him. Just like Eddie.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi there puppets. I love you guys, I'm over 100 review and yes, I did a little dance. Please review so I can keep doing dances. No but seriously, I get so excited when I see a new review! Shout-out to guest that writes amazing review... Yet I don't know your name :( Some of you were wondering how I can update as much as I do, well, that is just because I type with the speed of light. It's true. I also need your ideas for a third story, because I want to write one! Anyways, review! Enjoy!**

_Chapter Nine_

"Hospital food is the worst." Mel stated when Loren walked in. She was poking with her fork into something that looked like mashed potatoes, but was having trouble deciding what it really was.

"I can see that." Loren replied with a bit of a chuckle.

"You look fantabulous, by the way." Mel said as she looked at Loren's dress. "Where did you get that dress?" She asked, completely ignoring the fact that she was in a hospital and quite fragile.

"Eddie bought it for me." Loren replied as she sat down on the edge of Mel's bed.

"Oh, yes, Eddie Duran, can you tell me that story now?" Mel said as she grabbed the edge of Loren's dress and ruffled it a little. Mel's head hurt, as did her shoulder, but she wasn't going to let it show. She didn't want Loren to know that Trent really hurt her, she knew that had been Trent's intention. Neither was she going to tell Loren what had really went on that night. It would hurt Loren too much. It still hurt her.

"He's just amazing." Loren replied in a dreamy voice as her thoughts drifted off to Eddie. He had walked her all the way to Mel's door. When they had walked out of the MK club, Loren had noticed the paparazzi for the first time, they were nothing like Loren had imagined them to be. They just looked like regular people. Regular people with huge cameras around their necks. And not just one. At least ten.

"Oh I bet he is." Mel laughed, she immediately flinched due to the strong pain in her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Mel... This is all my fault." Loren replied, she felt guilty. Guilty that she had let Trent get away. Guilty that she had been too selfish, she had stayed with Eddie because he protected her. She hadn't worried about her loved ones... Or loved one... Not for even one second, until it was too late. Until Trent had already figured out her selfish ways. But never again. Never would she let anyone go through that again, especially Mel. She needed Mel. She couldn't bear losing her.

"No, Lo, it's not." Mel stated in a strickt voice. As if she was telling a toddler to put a cooky she had just stolen from the jar back. "It is not your fault that your father is some psycho manic." She continued after a little sigh.

"But still... Look at you, you are in the hospital. And what am I doing? I'm out having fun with Eddie Duran." Loren replied, mostly to herself. She felt a cold hand on her wrist, she looked down at her best friend.

"I want you to have fun, and if it gonna be with someone it might as well be with Eddie Duran. At least he's worthy of your time." Mel assured Loren in a serious voice. Loren gave Mel a look and sighed without a sound.

* * *

Eddie picked Loren up, she couldn't help but notice the worried expression on his face, although she was sure that Eddie was trying to hide it. She noticed it, but was she supposed to say something? Eddie didn't keep anything from Loren. He was one of the most sincere persons she had ever met. He was an open book. Unlike anyone Loren had ever met. And then to think that he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

"How was Mel?" Eddie asked, Loren saw that his hands were holding the steering wheel in a tight grip.

"Good, for someone who just got shot." Loren replied, she looked down at her hands in her lap and bit her lip. "I can't help but feel a little bit guilty about it though." She admitted. "Mel almost hit me when I told her I was sorry..." She added jokingly. Eddie let out a chuckle that was humorless, however Loren was sure it wasn't supposed to be. He just kept his eyes on the road and didn't say anything.

Loren glanced over at Eddie, who didn't seem to notice that she was. His knuckles were white due to the tight grip in which he was holding the steering wheel. He was bothered by something, but what could possibly upset Eddie? He was always so light about things. Eddie wasn't the type of person to get upset over nothing. Knowing this made Loren even more curious.

"Is something wrong?" Loren asked, in a soft but still very clear voice.

"The record label is just breathing down my neck." Eddie simply replied. It was not entirely the truth. When Eddie had been at the office, Jake told him about somebody calling named Trent. He had asked about a girl named Loren that was living with Eddie. Jake had denied knowing anything about that, afterwards Eddie of course needed to tell his father the story about Trent and Loren. Jake hadn't approved of what Eddie was doing for Loren. He had told him that Eddie needed to focus on writing songs and that he couldn't have a distraction.

For the first time in Eddie's career, he had stormed out of Jake's office. Angrily. Jake had no idea how things were between Loren and him. Jake had no idea how much Loren needed Eddie. Jake had no idea how much... Just how much Eddie needed Loren. How much her needed her to be safe and protect her from people who were trying to hurt her. People like Trent. There were many people like him, unfortunately, there were probably more people like Trent on the word then there were sane people.

* * *

Loren didn't see any paparazzi around, she was relieved to not see them. She just had the feeling somebody was always watching. Even now, she was sure she felt a pair of eyes, following her every move. She wasn't aware that her feeling was perfectly accurate. Eddie was about to say something when his phone rang.

He sighed in a way that a person would if he was carrying a huge rock around. "It's Jake, I have to take this." Eddie said, he took a few meters distance from Loren, who sat on the hood of Eddie's car. Waiting for him to finish his phone call.

Loren leaned back and closed her eyes. The feeling that somebody was watching her didn't fade, it just got worse, as if the person came closer and closer. Loren felt a shock go down her spine, she wasn't sure why. A sudden noise caused Loren to open her eyes. Just as she did that, she saw the face she feared so much. The face she had wished never to see again. Her father's face.

Where was Eddie? Caught up by his conversation? Loren wanted to scream, yet Trent was faster. His hand covered her mouth. Even if it hadn't, Loren wouldn't have been able to scream, paralyzed by the fear.

"Loren, he won't hear you, can't you see he doesn't care?" Trent said with a voice as sweet as honey. "Nobody cares for someone who would betray their own family."

Loren's eyes filled up with tears. Trent was telling lies. Eddie would never stop caring. Loren felt something poke her stomach, a hard metal thing. A gun. Trent started walking, Loren walked with him, scared of what would happen if she didn't cooperate. Still, she turned her head to see where Eddie was. Eddie was on the ground. He wasn't moving.

Before Loren could see anything else, she was thrown into the trunk of a car. She was thrown in such a way that it hurt every inch of her body.

"Now, be quiet, alright?" Trent hissed before he taped Loren's mouth.

No one to save her. Eddie was... Dead, or passed out on the ground. She just hoped he wasn't dead. Would Trent be able to kill someone? Yes, of course he would. He had tried it with both her and Mel. But Eddie was untouchable. He couldn't die.

The trunk closed and everything went black.

* * *

Eddie woke up in a hospital. The first thing he saw was his dad.

"Hi buddy." Max said softly. Eddie closed his eyes and groaned.

"What happened?" He asked in a raspy voice.

Loren. Where was Loren? The last thing Eddie remembered was leaving Loren alone at the car for a moment to talk to Jake on the phone.

"Somebody hit you on the head with something." Max replied, the doctors had told him that, when he woke up, Max couldn't freak him out in any way. They had told him it was because Eddie was still weak.

"And Loren?" Eddie asked.

Max shook his head. Loren had been nowhere to be found.

"She's probably worried sick, I need to get to her." Eddie said, he now noticed that he was hooked to all kinds of devices.

Eddie got up and quickly pulled all the wires that were connected to him off. He needed to go to Loren and tell her everything was going to be okay.

"Eddie..." Max began, he gently pushed Eddie back down on the bed by his shoulder. Eddie gave him a not-understanding look before realizing something bad had happened to Loren. And he hadn't been there to stop it.

His world simply collapsed at the realization that he might have lost Loren.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello you amazing reader you. I'm sorry for not updating either one of my stories yesterday, I've been pretty busy :( Please still love me. Let me know what you think through a review! Also, if you still love me, I'll be able to love you back. Shout-out to hollywoodheighter for being such a loyal reader and amazing person! Please review! Enjoy!**

_Chapter Ten_

The worst thing about the little room Loren was in wasn't the cold nor was it the horrible smell, the worst thing about the dirty room was that there was no furniture. There was just a mattress on the floor, a thin, dirty looking mattress. It didn't matter what kind of bed there was anyway because Loren was sure she wouldn't be able to sleep.

One corner of the room was darker than the rest of it. Loren knew there was somebody in the dark, but wasn't entirely sure if it was someone she would want to make contact with.

"H- Hello?" The insecure voice of a girl called out softly.

The shadowy figure was a girl, she couldn't be any older than fifteen. What was she doing here? Had Trent brought her here?

If it hadn't been for the gun Trent had poked in Loren's back, she wouldn't be here. She wasn't scared of his fists anymore. He could hit her all he wanted but in the end Loren would be fine. As long as she would have Eddie. Something that she wasn't entirely sure of right now, just the thought of it made her tear up. Even though none of the tears actually escaped from her eyes.

"Who are you?" Loren asked, her voice sounded hollow.

The girl took a step closer to Loren as she apparently realized Loren wasn't a threat to her. Loren got a better chance to observe the pale, skinny girl in front of her. She looked like she hadn't seen the sun for weeks, if not months. She had no color on her cheeks and her lips were almost the color her skin should have been. Her dark eyes were opened widely and that made them even bigger then they already were.

But the most shocking thing about the appearance of the girl in front of Loren was a scar on her face. Loren hadn't immediately noticed it and was now bluntly staring at it. She also noticed several bruises on the small girl's arms and neck that stood in contrast with her almost snow white skin, due to their dark color.

"I- I'm Jenny." The girl finally replied weakly.

Jenny... Where had Loren heard that before? The dark hair framing Jenny's face also looked familiar, as well as her eyes. But she just didn't know why they looked familiar.

* * *

Eddie stared at the shirt his father was wearing and realized it had never been more interesting. Mainly, Eddie just needed something to look at as the detective asked him several question.

Had Eddie seen the person who knocked him out? No, but her know who it was.

But had he seem his face? No.

Eddie knew that the detective assumed Trent had kidnapped Loren but he got frustrated over the face that the detective was asking questions as if there were several options. Eddie wanted to scream at the man that called himself a detective. Trent had kidnapped Loren and by doing so, taken her away from him.

"Do you have any idea where she is?" The detective finally asked.

Eddie smirked. "Of course I don't know, if I would I'd be there by now." He nearly snapped.

"Thank you, mister Duran. We'll do everything in our power to find her." The detective replied calmly and with a nod before walking out of Eddie's room.

"Everything in their power." Eddie spit out the words with a smirk as he looked at his dad again. Max gave him a compassionate look, something that annoyed Eddie. His father shouldn't pity him, he should be out there, looking for Loren. Something that Eddie was desperate to do, if he wouldn't have been high on pain killers.

Why would he be given painkillers, his head didn't even hurt that much. Well, that probably meant that the painkillers were doing their jobs right... But still, Eddie was desperate to get out. Eddie was desperate to look for Loren, desperate to find her. A lot of people had already come to see him, including some reporters that had somehow managed to get in. Eddie had to hold back a chuckle when he noticed the look on their faces when Eddie simply ignored them. One of them had brought up Loren, it had been pretty hard to ignore that. Eddie had to give Jake credit for dealing with the annoying reporter. Jake had come to visit him and apologized. Eddie excepted his apology but was still somewhat offended by what Jake had told him earlier.

"I'll have Joe find her, don't worry." Max said, reading the expression on Eddie's face.

Joe was Max' private investigator. Max knew that Joe could find out almost anything in just a matter of time. Time that Max was not sure of they had. Truth be told, Max was anxious to find Loren too. Eddie had told him everything about Loren's father, and just the way Eddie talked about that would be a reason to keep Loren safe.

"I have to find her." Eddie stated, he sat up, but quickly grabbed his head. It did hurt, a lot. Maybe he did need more painkillers, Eddie quickly shook it off.

Loren was more important than a little headache.

* * *

How did things get from horrible to amazing and back to horrible again so fast? This was the main question on Loren's mind. The only thing obvious about Jenny is that things had never been amazing for her, at least, not in a while. Jenny didn't talk much and never asked questions.

"How old are you... exactly?" Loren asked as she looked up at Jenny from the dirty mattress on which she had been sitting silently for some time now.

Jenny had been standing the whole time, now she looked like she was concentrating on finding the right reply for Loren's question. Loren might have misjudged Jenny's age a little bit. She was younger than Loren had thought at first. That fact only made Loren get more and more curious about how she got her and what her possible connection to Trent was.

"I think I'm... About thirteen." Jenny stated, she thought about it for a moment and then nodded as a confirmation that she was sure of her statement.

Thirteen year old Jenny. Why did that ring a bell? Jenny... Loren didn't have a lot of time to think about it though, because the door opened. Trent was standing in the doorway, he appeared to be more relaxed then Loren had ever seen him.

The reaction that Jenny had at the appearance of Trent was different from Loren's. Jenny backed up a little and changed the direction of her gaze from Trent to her feet as fast as she could, probably not wanting to make eye contact with Trent.

Loren on the other hand wasn't at all scared to make eye contact with her father, who she detested from the very depth of her soul. Loren wished she was the one with the gun. Loren wished she was in the position to break Trent.

"Are you settling in nicely?" Trent asked casually.

"Will you just let me go home already?" Loren snapped back. When she had still been living with Trent, she would have never dared to snap at him, but now, she didn't care. She wanted to get back home, get back to Eddie. If not that, just get away from here.

"You are home." Trent replied. "You see, Jen, I told you your sister would come to live with us soon." He added, turning to Jenny.

Jenny just nodded but didn't say anything. Loren was confused and looked from Trent to Jenny and back to Trent, seeking an answer. She didn't get one. All she got was a cold smile from Trent.

"Jenny, I told you many times, you should answer when I talk to you." Trent said, again, turning to Jenny. "Come over here for a second." He continued when Jenny didn't reply to him again. Loren could tell that Jenny was trying her best to say something. Loren knew that feeling, being paralyzed by either fear or being in a light state of shock.

Jenny walked over to Trent, slowly, taking as long as possible. Again, something Loren recognized.

Loren knew what was going to happen. It had happened to her on various occasions. But Loren was determent not to let it happen to Jenny. The girl that seemed to be broken into more pieces than Loren had ever been. And she was so small and thin. Trent would probably be able to snap her like a twig if he felt like it.

"Don't do it, Trent." Loren said quickly when Trent was about to lift up his hand to hit Jenny.

Trent's hand dropped to his side, this time, Loren was sure that the heat would turn on her. But Loren could handle it. After all, it wasn't going to be for a long time, just until Eddie found her. But when would that be? Hours? Days? Maybe even weeks?

"So just because you are some Hollywood superstar's whore for one night, you think you have the right to talk to me like that?" Trent smirked. He reached Loren in just one step, his face was just a few inches away from her's.

Loren had no idea what came over her, why she suddenly wasn't giving into Trent. "I wasn't his whore and I don't think you have the right to harm innocent girls." She said, instantly regretting having to say that. But as soon as the words had popped up in her head, they had gone straight to her mouth and went passed her lips before she had time to press her lips together.

* * *

The second Max had left Eddie's side to get some coffee, Eddie had gotten up, detached the wires hooked to him on one end and to devices on the other. A pile of Eddie's clothes was laying on a chair in the corner of his room. Eddie quickly changed, he recalled this was the fastest he had ever changed from one outfit into another.

Eddie pulled his hoodie over his head some more. There were a lot of paparazzi lurking outside of the hospital Eddie was in, hoping to take a picture of him or anyone visiting him. He was relieved when the paparazzi didn't seem to notice him. Eddie looked for his car but quickly realized he didn't drive here.

"Where are you going without me, pretty boy?" Eddie heard a familiar voice ask, he felt the hand of a girl on his shoulder.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi gorgeous. I have a thing for calling people beautiful. Anyways, I'm sorry for all the cliffhangers, I didn't mean to torture you guys... I hope you like this chapter, maybe you'll hate me for it. Let me know what you think through reviews, because I love me some reviews. Enjoy!**

_Chapter Eleven_

Loren sat on the floor and coughed a few times. She was having trouble breathing, when she coughed, her hand got warm because of the blood she was coughing up. Yet, she didn't cry. She wasn't going to let Trent break her again. Not after being fixed. Not after Eddie. Never again.

But she had no idea how long she could keep that up. As long as possible. Until Eddie would come and save her.

Trent kicked her one more time before he walked out of the room. The last kick had been the worst and Loren wouldn't be surprised if a few ribs were broken. The only thing that made Loren stand up again was the a picture of Eddie in her head. Loren ignored the pain.

"Thank you." Jenny said softly.

Loren looked down at Jenny, she was small and fragile. Loren had been that way... Just some days ago. Eddie had changed her so fast. Just by being his amazing self.

"Things will get better... He can't keep us here." Loren assured Jenny.

"He can." The broken girl said.

Tears were welling up in her eyes when Jenny said it. Not because she thought Jenny was right, but because Jenny didn't have any hope left. Jenny was convinced that there wasn't another way to live.

"How long have you been here?" Loren asked before she knew what she was saying. She couldn't keep her mouth shut these days... Or this day.

Jenny thought about it again but then shook her head. Her gaze was pointed at Loren's feet.

* * *

Time just passed. The red stains of Loren's blood on the cold concrete floor had turned brown. Loren had no idea how long that was supposed to take. Jenny didn't talk much. And if she did say something it was in a soft voice and mostly an answer to Loren's questions. Loren had a lot of questions. But the main thing on her mind was when Trent had told Jenny that Loren was her sister. Loren didn't have a sister. And if she did have one, she'd remember Nora being pregnant, right?

Another question that Loren didn't dare to ask was how Jenny got the scar on her face. However, Loren didn't ask that question, mainly because she was scared of what the answer would be.

Loren was on the floor, her back leaning against the door. She looked down at her dress, the dress Eddie got her was already ruined by blood stains. Just like Jenny's loose white shirt, that fit her like a dress.

Jenny looked so familiar, even though Loren was completely positive that she hadn't seen her before.

All these questions, no answer. Quite frankly, Loren didn't need an answer. But she wanted to know what was going on here. She needed to know why Trent was doing the things he did.

But most of all, she needed to get back to Eddie. Eddie who could make her feel better just by showing his gorgeous face. She would give everything to be with him right now. Loren hadn't allowed herself to close her eyes long enough to fall asleep, but now, she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. If she couldn't be with Eddie, she could dream about him, right?

* * *

Both Eddie and Mel were getting desperate. They were out of places to look and had only been to one place. Loren house. Where they still were. In Mel's car, in front of the house. Cops were all over the place. As if Trent was going to bring Loren back there. The cops should be out looking for Loren, bringing her back to him.

"Where else could we go?" Mel asked again. Eddie sighed and shook his head.

"For the seventh time, I don't know." He replied with a little chuckle.

"Where are you, Lo?" Mel wondered out loud.

This was killing Eddie. This helpless feeling. He had felt like this before, when his mother died. He needed Loren, he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her. But she wasn't here. She wasn't here and he couldn't do anything to find her.

But why did every heartbeat hurt? He had only been 'with' Loren for less than a day. It should have been longer, much, much, longer. Eddie felt the urge to scream, but he didn't. It wouldn't do any good.

* * *

Loren couldn't sleep. She could only sit on the floor with her eyes closed as her body was getting cold, due to the concrete floor. Where was she? From time to time, she could hear people walking outside of the room. Or people talking quietly.

"Keep it together." Loren whispered to herself. She didn't want to give Trent the satisfaction of breaking her again.

"Come on, Loren, you're stronger than this." She whispered again. She pictured Eddie whispering the words to her.

Loren stood up and started to walk around the room, looking for a possible way to get out. There was a tiny window high on the wall, almost against the ceiling. If she'd have something to stand on. Jenny seemed to notice Loren's gaze to the window and spoke up.

"That won't work." Jenny stated, she shook her head quietly.

"I bet you can fit through there." Loren replied, she got up and walked to the wall on which the little window was.

Jenny shook her head again. "I've tried." She said.

"What happened?" Loren asked, genuinely curious. Jenny had tried to get away all by herself, but she had failed. That was obvious.

Jenny replied by pointing to the horrifying scar on her face. Loren didn't know what came over her, she pulled the girl into a tight hug. Jenny was even skinnier than she looked. She really didn't have an ounce of fat on her little body.

"Having a family moment, aren't we?" A non familiar voice said from the doorway. Loren stood in front of Jenny and looked at the doorway. Jenny had backed up against the wall and she looked horrified.

The man in front of her looked slightly older than Trent, but he already had the sadistic grin that Loren feared so much on his face. But Loren didn't recognize him.

"Your room is ready." The man said before grabbing Loren's arm and dragging her out of Jenny's room.

"Let go of me!" Loren yelled as she almost fought the man who was holding her arm in such a grip that it hurt.

The man didn't react to Loren, he kept walking until they reached a door. One of about six doors in the small hall. Loren had no idea where she was, what kind of place this was.

Loren was simply thrown into the room. She brushed the hair out of her face and looked around. The room was big and she wasn't laying on a concrete floor, she was laying on a soft carpet that covered the whole floor or the room. The walls weren't dirty like in Jenny's room, Loren could only wonder why she got a room like this and Jenny had to stay in that little, cold room.

There was a huge window on the back wall of the room. Loren quickly stood up and walked over to it. She wasn't really walking, she was limping, she now noticed the sharp pain in her knee.

The window was locked.

That is when a piece of her broke. She had promised herself not to break, and a part of her stayed true to that promise. But a little piece of her had just broken. She needed Eddie, but he wasn't here. Would he be looking for her at all?

No. Don't give him the satisfaction of thinking that. Eddie would always be there for her, when he could be. And right now, Trent had taken that away from her. Trent had taken the man she loved away from her.

She loved Eddie.

* * *

Eddie looked at his phone that had almost been ringing non-stop. His dad's name had appeared on his screen twice, as well as Chloe's. Now Max' name was up on the screen again. Eddie sighed and picked up.

"Yes, pop?" Eddie sighed, he was still in Mel's car and they had been driving all over town. They had agreed to not give up. Both being aware of the fact that they had no idea where to look, they didn't want to give up so fast.

"Eddie, where are you? Everybody's worried sick about you." Max replied, his voice sounded relieved, simply because Eddie had picked up.

"Where do you think?" Eddie smirked. Mel looked at his before she focused on the road again.

"You should get back to the hospital." Max stated.

Eddie let out a humorless chuckle. "Why would I do that?" He asked, slightly annoyed. "My head is perfectly fine and I-"

"Ed," Max cut him off. "It's not that."

"Then what is it?" Eddie asked, he was asking a lot of questions. Every thing his father said, he had a question to got with it.

"Joe had a lead." Max said.

Eddie felt hope rise up in him again. He knew his father's private eye was good, he had found out things that Eddie could have never imagined to be true. But did he really have a lead on Loren? Could he help find her? Or had he found her already? Eddie could only hope so.

But he felt helpless. Helpless and lost without Loren. She already had that impact on him.

He already loved Loren.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi there you. I watched the first episode of HH yesterday and Mel and Loren had a conversation about support groups all over LA, I hadn't even noticed that before! Weird, right? Anyways I've posted a third story and I'm kind of proud of it, so if you haven't read it yet, please read it. It's called The Lawyer's Assistant. Now I'm begging for reviews on this story, so please please, pretty pretty please, review! (I know this is a little short but I didn't want to overdo this chapter.) Enjoy!**

_Chapter Twelve_

Every time someone walked out of Loren's room, Loren ran over to the door to check if they locked it. After all they were human, and humans made mistakes. But Loren was beginning to doubt if they were really human.

Loren had been here for about a day, or maybe more, maybe even less. However, in that time at least five different men had walked into the room, walked around, looked at her without saying a word or responding to her questions. Then, they walked back out.

She hadn't seen Trent again. Of course just as she was thinking of Trent, the door opened and he appeared in the doorway. Loren stood up from the big bed in the middle of the room. She didn't back up, even though she was scared that Trent would hit her. But she was, once again, determent not to let it show.

"Loren, Loren, Loren." Trent said and he made a few disapproving sounds with his tongue.

Loren looked up at him with a questioning look.

"You know that if you somehow succeed to walk out the door, I'll get you." Trent assured Loren.

"How- Why-" Loren tried to ask, she was cut off by Trent storming towards her, grabbing her hair and tilting her head up at the ceiling.

"We are watching your every move." Trent hissed in her ear.

Still the strong scent of alcohol was all around Loren since Trent had come that close to her. However, Loren didn't have time to focus on it because her attention was pulled to a metal device on the ceiling. Loren recognized it as a camera. Some kind of security camera.

What had she gotten herself into?

What had Trent gotten her into?

* * *

"I'm coming with you." Eddie insisted after Joe had told him about a possible lead he had about where Loren could be. If not Loren, Trent. If not Trent, someone with a connection to Trent.

"I don't think that's the best idea." Joe replied carefully.

Mel was holding Eddie's arm into a tight grip. She was freaking out by the look on both Max and Joe's faces. So she figured the best way to treat this kind of nerves was by trying to stop the blood flow in Eddie's arm.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Mel asked in a snappy way. Joe gave her a look and shook his head.

"Because what's going on at that place..." Joe began, he swallowed hard before he spoke up again. You could cut the tension in the room with a butter knife and the suspense didn't get less as he said the next words. "Trafficking." He just said.

"What?" Mel managed to say after a short moment of silence.

Eddie's mouth fell open, he felt Mel's grip on his arm -that had somehow been comforting- drop. Trafficking? Was Trent that horrible? To not only hurt Loren, but let other people hurt her?

Whatever Joe or Max would say, Eddie would come with Joe. To get the woman he loved.

* * *

Trent was sitting down on Loren's bed as if it was the most casual thing in the world. Loren was still standing, as far away as possible without letting Trent know how scared she actually was.

"You know, I never wanted to bring you here, but you have to understand that you forced me." Trent said in a compassionate tone of voice.

"You could bring me back to Eddie and I'll never tell anyone about it, ever." Loren blurted out.

"Oh, I bet you'd like that, going back to being his whore." Trent smirked as he stood up from the bed.

"I am _not _his whore." Loren replied in an almost threatening voice, willing to defend her as well as Eddie's name.

"Doesn't matter, he's dead anyways." Trent answered with a shrug.

"What?" Loren gasped breathlessly. No. Don't let Trent get to you. Eddie isn't dead. "He can't be dead." Loren stated and she looked right into Trent's eyes. She wasn't scared anymore. She wasn't going to let Trent tell her these lies. Never. She loved Eddie, and he was going to be there for her. Eventually.

* * *

Loren grabbed her stomach and screamed. No one was around to hear it, but her stomach just hurt. She screamed again. Trent had left the room a while ago. Loren was coughing up some blood again.

"Hurry Eddie..." She whispered to herself in an incredibly raspy voice. This had been by far her worst experience with Trent. Now, she was sure that at least one of her ribs was broken. But she still wasn't broken. Eddie wasn't dead, Loren would feel it in her heart if Eddie were dead. She was sure of it. As sure as she was that she had multiple broken bones in her body.

Loren sat up on the bed and immediately flinched winced at the pain that came from every single part of her body. She pressed her eyelids together, trying to reduce the pain. Her dress was completely ruined. Loren grabbed the diamond necklace that she was still wearing.

She did know who Jenny was now. Trent had told her between punches.

Jenny was his daughter, from another woman. But the woman had married another man. Trent had been 'devastated' for as much as he had emotions. He had told Loren that he had no choice but to kill that 'son of a bitch' that claimed to be Jenny's father.

Holly's story. Holly from her fist support group meeting. This had been her story, except Trent's name was replaced by 'burglars'.

"I love you." Loren told the necklace that now was the closest thing she had to Eddie.

* * *

"Sh- Shouldn't the police be involved?" Mel asked as she looked at the single house in the middle of nowhere they had just reached.

"I'm just going to check it out." Joe replied. "Stay here." He added in more of a demanding voice.

"But-" Eddie protested.

"No, Eddie, he told you to stay here." Max said, knowing that his son was perfectly willing to walk into a house full of criminals just to get Loren back.

"But-" Eddie began as he realized it was probably ridiculous. "Okay." He finally continued with a big sigh.

Joe just nodded before he got out of the car. Both Mel and Eddie had insisted on going with him to this place. This huge house that looked like it had literally stepped out of a horror movie. It also gave off that vibe, the scary vibe that would give anyone the chills.

Joe knocked on the door.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello dollies. Oh my gosh, 13... Bad luck... Right? Maybe, maybe not. So I'm not updating One Death today because I'm really stuck with that story... Any ideas for it, please let me know. Please review and if you haven't checked out my third story yet, please check it out! If you review I'll love you forever! Enjoy!**

_Chapter Thirteen_

Loren wasn't in that house, that was clear. The house was quite small compared to what Joe had described it to be and no one that would be helpful had opened the door. Now they were waiting for one of the many cars that were parked in front of the house to leave.

Eddie knew he had to be patient but he just couldn't bring himself to sit in a car when he had no idea what was happening to Loren.

"I can't wait anymore." Mel stated, putting both her's and Eddie's thoughts to words.

Mel bounced from side to side as she sat on her hands and tried to look through the walls of the house.

* * *

Every breath was starting to hurt Loren as she was laying down on the bed, flat on her back. She looked into the camera lens on the ceiling, fighting the urge to put her middle finger up at the camera. Just to give a clear message to whoever was looking, but she didn't. She knew that someone would instantly come in. If not Trent, one of the men that had came into her room earlier.

_"A smile away feels miles from where you are..." _Loren sang, holding the diamond necklace. A tear escaped from her eyes. Not because of Trent, but because she couldn't stand not being with Eddie anymore. And as if not being with Eddie didn't hurt enough, she was also physically hurt by Trent. She took a deep breath before singing the next line to her own song. _"Might as well be... Mars."_

Loren dried her tears, knowing that Eddie wouldn't want her to cry.

"He'll be here... He'll come... He promised..." Loren told herself, she squeezed her eyelids together. Partly to visualize Eddie and partly to stop the tears.

Stay strong.

* * *

"Finally!" Mel yelled a little too loudly making everybody in the car jump.

The same man Joe had just talked to was now in a car and driving away, Joe waited a few seconds before he started following him.

Nobody talked, they were all focused on the car that was now exactly two cars in front of them. And in what seemed like a lifetime, the car they had been following took a side road from the highway.

"Are you sure this is our guy?" Eddie asked carefully, this was the first time he had said anything since Joe had knocked on the door of the house.

Joe sighed. "No," He stated making the next beat of Eddie's heart hurt more than all of the other beats.

"But I'm sure Lo will be there..." Mel said, she sounded like she was trying to convince herself of the statement.

"Let's just hope." Max replied. He was determent not to let Eddie and Mel see his insecurities about weather Loren was going to be there. But he hoped she would be, if not for himself, for his son who seemed devastated ever since Loren was taken from her side.

* * *

_"I told you I would come." Eddie said as he kissed Loren. They were at 'their' spot, lying down in the dirt, Eddie was on top of Loren and those words were the first they had said to each other, because they had been kissing the whole time._

_"I never doubted it." Loren stated. There was a lot of kissing and heavy breathing along with even more kisses. Loren was wearing the most beautiful dress. It was red with spaghetti-straps and felt incredibly soft. It was tight up to her hips and from there it flowed to the ground. She wasn't wearing any shoes and the evening air kissed her bare feet. _

_"I love you." Eddie said. Those words made Loren's eyes fill with tears of happiness. She kissed him again. _

_"I love you too." She finally stated with tears of pure happiness rolling down her cheeks. _

Loren was brutally parted from the best dream she had ever had by somebody pulling her out of the bed.

"We gotta go." Trent said, it took Loren a moment to realize that she was not with Eddie at her spot anymore. It took her a moment to realize that she was in a hellhole. A place of which people had most often seen in their nightmares. Loren didn't need to have a nightmare to be here. Even her nightmares must be a better place then this, but what was going on now? Loren saw Jenny and another girl outside of her room, both escorted by men that looked like they didn't have the slightest idea of how a shower worked.

"Why? What's going on?" Loren asked in a raspy voice.

Loren didn't get an answer, she gave Jenny a questioning look but noticed soon enough that Jenny had no idea what was going on. The other girl looked even worse then Jenny, if that was possible. She did look older, at lease 16 or 17, he could notice that mainly because she was quite tall. She was wearing shorts and a baggy T-shirt that looked like it had once been tight on her skinny frame.

"Come on." Trent hissed when Loren was sure here feet were glue to the ground he yanked her off her feet and pushed her towards the door by her shoulders.

What was going on here?

* * *

"Where's he going?" Eddie asked as if Joe would instantly provide a reasonable explanation for what was going on.

Of course nobody answered to Eddie's question because they were all watching the house as if it was going to take off into space in a matter of seconds. Everybody in the car was completely silent, you could hear every breath, every swallow, even the blink of an eye seemed too loud in this silence.

Until a scream from Mel broke the silence. This was instantly followed by Joe getting something out of his bag, Eddie saw metal reflect in weak evening sun. It was a gun.

That's when he saw her. A shock went through his body when he saw the way she looked, the blood stains on her dress, her hair was messy and looked like it had been used as a handle to throw her around the room. She looked horrible, but still, the bruises on her face weren't covering her beauty. Even at her lowest point, she could take Eddie's breath away.

Eddie followed Joe out of the car, ignoring his father who was strongly suggesting that he wouldn't do that. Eddie walked around the car.

He saw Loren's beautiful eyes look his way, her mouth fell open before they locked eyes. Before they finally locked eyes. That moment Eddie could see the long lost spark in Loren's eyes. The spark that implied that she wasn't broken. Although the spark was weak, she was not far from her breaking point.

"Let the girls go, the police are on their way." Joe said, pointing his gun at Trent who quite frankly just looked surprised at the sight of Eddie and Joe.

"She is _my _daughter and I can do whatever I want with her." Trent hissed as he held Loren in front of him, as a shield from Joe's gun.

Eddie looked at the other girls that were all held by other men. None of the girl said a word, his eyes were still locked with Loren's and he wanted to run up to her and take her away from Trent. Take her away and keep her in his arms forever. Loren looked ready to run up to him too, but that was when Eddie noticed Trent was also holding a gun. But it wasn't pointed at him, nor was it pointed at Joe, the barrel of the gun was pressed against Loren's cheek. Loren's perfect cheek.

"There's nothing you can do now, Trent, I know everything, the police are on their way." Joe said in a clear voice, this was the kind of scenario Eddie had only pictured to be in movies.

"No," Trent began as he shook his head and pressed the gun against Loren's face more. "No, you don't know anything! Get away, I'll kill her." He continued. Those words made the blood in Eddie's veins turn into ice, he wouldn't loose Loren. Ever.

"Give me the gun, Trent." Joe said in a more demanding voice.

Trent shook his head repeatedly and he mumbled a few words Eddie couldn't understand. The only thing Eddie saw were Loren's big, scared eyes, begging him to help her. Begging to save her.

Until the sound of a gunshot filled the air.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi cuties, I'm really sorry for torturing you with all those cliffhangers, I just can't help myself. Please review because that's actually what keeps me writing this much. It's a great motivation! Shout-out to tricelander once again because your reviews make me smile! (I know this chapter is a little short, but I wanted to give you guys something today...) Enjoy!**

_Chapter Fourteen_

Eddie woke up to the sound on a heart-monitor beeping.

_What happened?_

_Where was he?_

_Where was Loren?_

The last thing Eddie remembered was seeing Loren, Loren and Trent. Trent had a gun. Eddie remembered wanting to scream.

Eddie's eyes fluttered open, the first thing he saw when he looked to his right was another hospital bed. He turned to see who was in it but groaned at the pain in his chest. He squeezed his eyelids together.

_What happened?_

_Where was Loren?_

Eddie opened his eyes again and this time he saw who was laying in the other bed.

Loren. Finally, she was within reach.

_What happened?_ That was the only question that remained.

Eddie sat up, his chest hurt like crazy, he looked down at his chest and noticed the bandages on it.

"Hey sleepy head." A weak voice from the other bed said. The voice that Eddie had been craving to hear.

"Hi beautiful." Eddie replied, his voice sounded raspy and the pain in his chest was still there and it didn't feel like it was planning on leaving any time soon. Eddie couldn't get up, he reached over to Loren's bed and Loren stretched her hand over to his. Their hands met in the middle.

Loren's hand felt a little cold, but still soft. He finally felt her hand inside of his again and that was where it belonged. Eddie never wanted to let go. Never again.

* * *

They had just laid there that way until a doctor walked in and ran some tests.

Eddie now knew what had happened, Trent had shot him. Closely followed by Joe shooting Trent as soon as he got the chance. Of course, Trent wasn't dead, but he was going to be put away for a long time. Eddie was going to make sure of that.

Although he knew Loren was safe, she seemed a little upset. But nobody could blame her for that. Eddie had to admit that he would be more concerned if Loren would act like she was fine.

By now, the story had gone public and it seemed like every single reporter had gladly took the opportunity to give their own twist to the story. In the time Eddie had been watching TV with Loren, reporters were telling the craziest stories.

"I can't believe you really found me." Loren sighed as a weak smile appeared on her lips, she looked into Eddie's eyes. Eddie got up, the doctor had given him something for the pain. The painkillers were now finally kicking in. He walked over to Loren's bed and placed a light kiss on her lips.

"I told you I'd come." He simply replied before kissing her again with more passion.

"And I didn't stop believing you for a second." Loren assured Eddie, she took a deep breath, inhaling his scent and his warmth. Loren put both her hands on Eddie's cheeks and kissed him passionately, there was so much emotion in that kiss. So much... Love.

Because Loren loved Eddie, but he wasn't aware of it yet.

And because Eddie loved Loren, but she wasn't aware of it.

Eddie groaned when Loren's hand trailed to his chest due to the strong pain that he still felt at that spot.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Loren instantly apologized.

Loren had almost lost Eddie because her father had shot him. But Eddie appeared to be the luckiest man on earth, the bullet had missed his heart by no more than two inches allowing him to live. It sounded pretty blunt, but it was true. The doctors described it as a miracle that there was barely any damage to Eddie's organs.

"Don't be, you can touch me, I won't break." Eddie assured her before he kissed her again, this time he climbed on top of her. It just felt so right, Eddie couldn't explain it.

"Well you've proved that." Loren joked.

"Stop." Eddie warned her with a smile that was shortly followed by another kiss.

* * *

The tight embrace in which Eddie was now being held by his father was starting to hurt his already inured chest. However, he didn't mind, he was being comforted by the familiar feeling of his father's arms around him. Although all he could still think about was Loren, even if she was even sitting on her bed just a few meters over from where he and his dad were standing. He loved her, but something told him that he shouldn't tell her yet. That the past few days have been crazy enough, he didn't want to make her days any crazier by interfering like that.

Loren was watching Eddie and Max from her bed, she smiled at the sight of them. Eddie and his dad were so close. Maybe even as close as Nora and Loren had been. Loren knew it was an amazing feeling to be able to share your feelings with a parent. Unlike Mel who had never had that connection with her parents and as Loren recalled she was somehow happy that her parents turned out to be not her real parents. When Mel had spotted Eddie, sneaking out of his room and out of the hospital they were in, she had instantly followed him, feeling in her gut that he was going to look for Loren. At least that was the story Mel had told her.

He had saved her, just as he had promised. And he was going to stay, just as he had promised. Because one thing Loren had learned about Eddie was that he kept his promises. And he was going to be there for her, even if no one else was.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello sweeties. I'm sorry for the shortness of the chapters of my other stories... I'll try to make my upcoming chapters longer but I can't promise anything. Well, please review and if you have ideas let me know, and also know that I love you. And I want to write a forth story, so please let me know if you have any ideas or requests for that! Enjoy!**

_Chapter Fifteen_

Eddie still didn't remember anything from last night, he only knew the things people told him. Of course, he trusted Loren and his father but he would like to know what exactly had happened.

The doctors had told him he was going to have to stay in hospital for one more day. Eddie had to fight the urge to sneak out again, what did relief both the pain in his chest and the frustration that being in a hospital brought with it was that Loren was here.

"You okay?" Loren asked, she sat down on Eddie's bed and stroked his hair.

Eddie groaned and nodded. "I just hate being in a hospital and I've been there twice this week." He said not aware that saying that made Loren feel guilty but as soon as he saw the look on her face, he sat up and pulled Loren onto his lap. Eddie nuzzled her neck and that made her giggle.

"Eddie, stop." Loren laughed, Eddie laid back on the bed and Loren fell on top of him. His strong arms wrapped around her made her feel warm and safe, she couldn't say it enough. She felt safe with Eddie.

Eddie rubbed Loren's stomach, he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her hair. Even though it hadn't been washed as much as usual, it still smelled like a wild flower.

_"So, you think you can tell me what I can do with my own daughter?" Trent yelled, he pointed the gun at Eddie and didn't hesitate for a moment to pull the trigger. In the split second between the loud bang and the bullet actually making his way to inside of Eddie's chest, he could only see Loren gasp, tense up and scream. _

_The sharp pain lasted for about a second, Eddie had heard stories about people being in a lot of pain and that you won't feel it anymore due to the adrenaline rush. However, he never thought it was true. The next shot that was fired was coming from Joe's gun, firing at Trent._

"Eddie?" Loren asked, parting Eddie from his flashback with her amazing voice that sounded somewhat worried.

* * *

Paparazzi had no shame. In Eddie's opinion paparazzi belonged on the list of most horrible human beings on earth. And they were on the shortlist. In the time Eddie had been in the hospital, paparazzi were constantly trying to get into the room and some had already succeeded.

By now, Max had a bodyguard, standing outside of their room, keeping all of the paparazzi and reporters outside. Loren was now talking to a girl Eddie had seen once before. Yesterday, she was one of the other girls that had been with Loren.

Eddie had to admit, she looked better than she had looked yesterday. She looked cleaned up, Eddie thought she was pretty. Except for the scar on her face that ruined the innocence in her appearance.

"What are you going to do when you get out of here?" Loren asked Jenny after she had sat her down on the couch.

Jenny must have been one of the strongest little girls Loren had ever met. Because Loren was starting to notice that Jenny wasn't as broken as Loren had thought she was. In fact, Jenny was quite cheerful after being released from that hellhole.

"I think I'm going to find my mom." Jenny replied after a brief moment of thinking.

"Wait... What's her name?" Eddie asked, suddenly recognizing Jenny.

"Holly, Holly Brighton." Jenny answered before staring into space with a look that implied she was lost in her thoughts.

Now Loren knew who she was. Finally. She was the long lost daughter of Holly from the support group.

* * *

"Really, you are the most thoughtful persons I've ever met." Loren said after Eddie hung up his phone, he had called Stacy and tried to convince her to give him Holly's number, however, Stacy didn't agree because that was against the guidelines of the support group. Yet, somehow Eddie managed to convince her to call Holly and tell her to come to the hospital, now they were both waiting.

"I try." Eddie replied with a smile.

Loren returned Eddie's smile and leaned in to kiss him. He put his hands on her hips and kissed her back.

Her lips were so soft and the kiss made every inch of Eddie's skin tingle. Eddie still couldn't believe how Trent could have done the things he did. But the thing he didn't want to believe was that Trent was still alive. One of the other men had died and the other had somehow managed to get away, although that didn't bother Eddie. He had Loren and Trent wasn't going to bother them anymore. He could be with the woman he loved.

So this was what it felt like to not be trapped. Loren had felt trapped ever since Trent came into her life. And afterwards he had literally locked her up. But Eddie had freed her of that feeling. He had saved her. She loved him, but did he love her? He could have any girl in the world, and yes, Loren was sure Eddie cared about her a lot. But did he love her? Loren was filling her own head with doubts, this made her think. She was weak, too weak to put her doubts to words. Because she knew that Eddie would put her at ease and be happy doing it. So why would she have doubts?

Stop it. Stop it, he cares about you and that's enough. Loren told herself when she parted from Eddie and noticed the way he looked at her. Nobody would ever care more about her than Eddie. But if that was true and he didn't love her, that meant that no one would love her.

"Are you okay?" Eddie asked with a little chuckle.

"Ya, sure, why?" Loren replied as she put up a smile.

"You were looking at me like you have just seen a ghost." Eddie answered jokingly.

"Oh yeah, I was just thinking..." Loren began as she realized that she couldn't tell Eddie what she truly had been thinking.

"You know what I was just thinking?" Eddie asked with a smile.

"Well...?" Loren responded a little flirtatiously.

"I was just thinking that I-" Eddie began, he took a moment to look at Loren's beautiful face and kissed her lips softly before continuing. "I was just thinking that... I love you." He said.

Eddie couldn't really explain why, but it just felt like the right time. He needed to let Loren know how he felt about him.

But she... She needed to feel the same.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi there dear readers! This story is 15 reviews away from 200 (see that quick math I just did there?) So... That would make me happy. And if you really really truly love me, you'll review on The Lawyer's Assistant because that's almost at a hundred! I WILL love you, and I know I said that before but I can ALWAYS love you more! Please review... For me? Enjoy!**

_Chapter Sixteen_

Eddie's words along with the tenderness with which he had said them, made Loren feel like she was falling into the softest bed on the planet. She couldn't say anything for a while, she just kissed Eddie with every bit of passion her tired body could offer him. That feeling Loren got, every time they kissed, every time she saw him, every move he made, the feeling she got, that was love. It had to be because it was an even better feeling than the feeling described in many books. And people often said that that was exaggerated.

By the time Loren unwillingly parted from Eddie because she was out of breath, she had gotten her ability to speak back. There was an excitement building up inside of her as she prepared to say the next words.

"I love you too." Loren said with the biggest smile on her face, she felt like her face was going to rip so that she would have a permanent smile on her face. Although that didn't seem as bad, it would look hideous, she would look like the Joker from the Batman movies.

Eddie felt the little wait that had still been on his chest getting lift off of it. Now he knew where Loren and he stood in their relationship, and it was one of the best points they could ever be. This was Eddie's idea of a perfect life. Well, not the whole 'being in the hospital', but just having a girl like Loren in his life. The one and only Loren Tate was his, he felt like the luckiest man on earth.

* * *

Loren laid in between Eddie's legs and her hands rested on her belly, Eddie's hands were on Loren's hands. Loren had closed her eyes and somehow managed to get their breathing synchronized, she enjoyed every second, every movement and every single breath. Eddie was the only one that was ever going to make her feel this way.

Their moment was interrupted by someone barging in. It took Loren a moment to get out of her dreamy state of mind, she opened her eyes and saw Holly standing there. Behind her stood Jenny, with a big smile on her face. Her hands were put up into a ponytail in the way only a mother would do a daughter's hair.

Jenny looked a lot like her mother, Loren was wondering why she hadn't seen the similarity before. Although she did recall recognizing Jenny from something. Loren could only dream about being reunited with her mother, but that would just be a dream for the rest of her life because Nora was gone. She was taken from Loren.

With one look into Holly's eyes, Loren saw the spark of happiness and completeness. It was a beautiful thing. Holly didn't talk, as soon as Loren had stood up from the bed on which she and Eddie had been laying, she pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Thank you." Holly whispered into Loren's ear as she hugged her tighter.

Jenny was just sheepishly smiling at Eddie who returned her look with a warm smile. Eddie already liked Jenny, she looked like she was related to Loren. Just now, Eddie remembered Loren telling him that she was, although she hadn't told him the full story about what had happened when she was with Trent.

"I don't know how to ever repay the two of you." Holly continued, turning to Eddie, she also gave him a hug and when they parted, Eddie shook his head and smiled.

"Please, Holly, you don't have to repay me." Eddie assured Holly, who he had found strange at first but after a few group meetings he had grown to like her.

* * *

Mel had been right, hospital food was uneatable. Apparently, she and Eddie had shared their opinion on that topic because Eddie was having take out delivered at the hospital.

The big man that Papa Max had trusted to be the doorman of Eddie and Loren's hospital room, which Max had also arranged them to share, now opened the door.

"Your food, mister Duran, miss Tate." He said with a nod in their direction.

"Thank you James, and mister Duran is my father, call me Eddie." Eddie answered with a reassuring smile.

Loren also smiled at James who just nodded again and left the room.

"So why didn't he let the delivery guy in?" Loren wondered out loud.

"Because he is one of those guys my dad trusts so he won't let anyone that he hasn't seen before in." Eddie explained as well as joked. "Now, let's see what I got." He added as he took the bags of food out of the bigger bag.

"That is a lot of food..." Loren gasped, she realized how dramatic it sounded when she had said it so she quickly turned it into a joke. "How do you keep those abs in such great shape?" She asked jokingly.

"Oh, that's right, you took a mental picture of me without my shirt on." Eddie replied flirtatiously, he stopped unwrapping the food for a moment to mockingly poke Loren in her side. An action at which she laughed hysterically because she was one of the most ticklish human beings that had ever walked on the face of the earth.

"Well, that and I may have googled 'Eddie Duran shirtless' once of twice..." Loren admitted.

Eddie had completely fixed the broken girl that Loren had been once. The 'old Loren' was back and it felt great knowing that she had just been hiding, hiding from the cause of the person who was trying to break her. Pieces of Loren had broken, but now, they were forming one piece again.

Finally.

* * *

Eddie just finished swallowing the last bite of his pastrami sandwich, his third to be exact. Loren had eaten two herself, Eddie knew some sandwiches weren't a real meal but it was his favorite by far.

"No, I'm not a reporter your prat." A voice Loren didn't recognize yelled from the hallway. Eddie did recognize the voice, he instantly got up from his chair and walked to the door.

"Mate, please tell your bodyguard here that I'm not a reporter." Ian said as he tried to free himself from the grip of James' hand on his arm.

"It's okay James, he isn't a reporter." Eddie assured James who instantly let Ian go. "He just has no manners." Eddie added with a smirk in Ian's direction which Ian replied with the same expression.

"And you're the one to talk, opening the door for your best friend in a dress." Ian teased Eddie before pulling him into a brotherly hug.

"It's been too long man." Eddie stated as Ian closed the door behind them.

"It has..." Ian answered, his gaze was now fixated on Loren. "Now, Ed, her I like to see in a dress." He said, he was saying it to Eddie, yet his eyes seemed to be still glued to Loren, Eddie couldn't blame him. His girlfriend was gorgeous.

"How _do _you manage to still look hot in your hospital outfit?" Eddie asked teasingly.

"I guess I'm just hot." Loren replied, the words had left her lips before they ever wondered around in her head for a second.

Both Eddie and his friend laughed.

"I'm Loren, pleasure to meet you." Loren said, she stood up and held out her hands. Ian gently grabbed her hand, lowered himself a little bit and then kissed the back of Loren's hand. In a charming way that made Loren blush a little redder than she already was in embarrassment over her latest remark.

"The pleasure is all mine." Ian answered as he stood up straight again, he looked at Loren for a few moments before Eddie grabbed Ian's arm and pulled him away from Loren.

"I know she's great to look at, but she's all mine." Eddie stated, those words made Loren want to jump up and down and kiss Eddie with every piece of passion she had left.

"Really? Because I did recall hearing something about you and a new girl... On the Lily Park Show I think it was." Ian said as he narrowed his eyes thinking.

Eddie sighed, whatever Lily had said, it couldn't be good... Lily Park never did anything good. She was only out to hurt people, and Eddie wasn't going to let her hurt Loren.

Eddie wished he could just put Loren in a bubble, a bubble where on one could ever hurt her. However, that would be weird and wrong on too many levels, he just wanted to keep her safe, one way, or the other.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello kind readerish types. Please check out my new story Dear Diary, I need you guys' feedback on that one. This story is almost at 200 review... Wut? Please let it get to 200 by this chapter! I'll reward you guys with as much Leddie as possible. Kay? Deal? Review & Enjoy!**

_Chapter Seventeen_

Eddie was rather shocked when Loren didn't seem at all hurt by the unkind words Lily had put on her website. She just laughed and shrugged, she had said that Lily was just a pathetic excuse for a person. Eddie could only imagine what he would've done if those kinds of things would have been written about him. Or the things his dad would do.

"Are you sure that you don't mind?" Eddie asked Loren who sat on the bed with a smile on her face.

"For the tenth time, yes." Loren said with a reassuring smile.

"Now, love, don't lie," Ian said as he looked at Loren with a strict expression on his face. "This is at least the twentieth time." He continued making Loren laugh and Eddie shake his head.

"Can't blame me, I just want to make sure that you're okay." Eddie said as he rolled his eyes at Ian and sat down next to Loren.

* * *

Ian was 'exploring the hospital', as he called it. Loren thought it was pretty obvious that Eddie had asked him to get them some alone time.

"I have a question." Loren said.

"Anything." Eddie answered with a slight nod.

"Do you have any idea where I'm going to live?" Loren asked as she bit her lip.

Eddie frowned slightly. "I thought it was pretty clear that you were going to live with me." He said with a little smile.

"And what if I don't want to?" Loren teased.

Eddie moved closed to her. "I'll kidnap you." He whispered into her ear before nuzzling her neck.

"Stop it we're in a hospital." Loren said with barely any breath because she was laughing.

"With a doorman." Eddie added to her statement.

"That's true, but he won't be able to stop Mel. Or your dad." Loren replied as she pushed Eddie off her.

"Fine," Eddie groaned with an irresistible smile as he took a step back.

"Oh what the hell." Loren said before she stood up and pushed Eddie unto the bed.

"Au..." Eddie said repeatedly as his face showed a look of intense pain.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Loren asked as she jumped off Eddie and looked at him in horror.

* * *

"You know that you're supposed to move that as less as possible, right?" A young nurse said as she put a flirtatious smile on her face.

"I do now." Eddie replied with a tight smile, his face still white with pain.

"I'll try to not make him work too much." Loren interfered with the conversation, just so that the nurse knew she didn't like her flirting with Eddie.

"You shouldn't." She almost snapped. She noticed the way both Eddie and Loren were looking at her and awkwardly walked out of the room.

"That was weird..." Loren stated, mostly saying it to herself before she turned back to Eddie and the concerned expression returned to her face. "I'm so sorry." She said with a frown.

"Don't be, it's not your fault." Eddie answered as he slightly sat up, groaned due to the sharp pain shock that went through his chest.

"Well, it kind of is, but I won't argue with you about that." Loren replied with a little sigh as she softly stroked Eddie's chest.

"That's right, you shouldn't." Eddie stated as he grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it.

"So what's happening here?" A loud cheerful voice said from the doorway.

"I just nearly killed my boyfriend, that's all." Loren replied to her best friend.

"Oh no, you shouldn't kill him." Mel said in a high pitched voice. "Unless he does anything to make you want to kill him." She added in a more serious voice with a little smile on her face. "You better not do that, pretty boy." She said as she pointed her finger at Eddie, her voice suddenly low and serious.

Eddie thew his hands up a little and lifted his eyebrows innocently.

"Yeah you better." Mel said in a threatening voice. Eddie liked how she wasn't treating him any differently because he was a rockstar in a hospital. She was just her normal self.

"And don't think that doesn't count for you." Loren whispered to Adam, she had just noticed his presence in the room. She knew that he and Mel were getting more and more serious, she was positive that they were one of the most perfect couples Loren had ever seen.

* * *

The afternoon turned out to be pretty fun, even though nobody knew where the hell Ian had disappeared to. Now Mel and Adam had left.

"Some friends you got there." Eddie said with a tad of teasing flirtatiousness in his voice.

"I can say the same about you." Loren replied.

"What do you want to do after the trial?" Eddie suddenly asked, changing the subject to a more serious topic.

Loren sighed and thought about it for a moment. "I want to go to Disney Land." She stated with a dreamy smile.

"In Paris?" Eddie asked with a little smile.

Loren smirked. "Yes, in Paris." She replied sarcastically.

"No I'm serious." Eddie answered with a serious face. "You see, I don't joke around about Paris." He added as a smile appeared on his face again.

"So when this whole mess is over you'll take me to Paris?" Loren asked, still with a little sarcastic disbelief in her voice.

"Yes." Eddie answered in a determent tone of voice. "Would you like that?"

"Like it?" Loren smirked. "That is so much of an understatement you don't even know it." She added as she placed a soft kiss on Eddie's lips.

"So you love it?" Eddie asked.

"Yes I do, I totally do." Loren replied excitedly. "Maybe even as much as I love you." She added flirtatiously as she flashed an innocent smile in Eddie's direction.

"Well then we shouldn't go." Eddie stated teasingly, having some trouble with keeping a straight face.

"Why?" Loren asked as she frowned slightly.

"Because I don't want you to love anything more then you love me." He said as he kissed Loren's cheek.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey guys, **

**I know I'm not supposed to put an authors note as a chapter. And I'm sorry if you thought this was a chapter. However, I have decided to quit writing my stories about HH for now. I think I'll continue in the future but I'm not sure about it at all. I truly am really really sorry, but there are some things going on and I just can't focus on writing at all. Just remember that I love you, kay (: (I'm sorry if you've already read this.)**

**Thanks for understanding.**

**xoxo**


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